


It's Ninja Time!

by TamaChan221



Category: Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (TV 2003), Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles - All Media Types
Genre: Action/Adventure, Angst, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, F/M, Family, Love, Mutants, Original Character(s), Self-Hatred, Teenagers
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-07-08
Updated: 2019-08-13
Packaged: 2020-06-24 19:50:52
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 24
Words: 59,200
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19730614
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TamaChan221/pseuds/TamaChan221
Summary: Fanfic is based on the 2003 series of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.This will also include a few OCs. I, in no way, shape, or form, own TMNT.





	1. Intro/ Kimiko's Bio

**Author's Note:**

> The TMNT 2003 series has a very special place in my heart and is my favorite cartoon of all and by far my favorite incarnation of the TMNT next to the 2k12 series. I've watched it so many times that I know most episodes by heart xD

  
Kimiko was originally my imaginary friend, I imagined her late in Fourth grade in 2006. I named her after watching so much Xialon Showdown(A really GOOD show) when Cartoon Network still had a block called Meguzi (Xialon Showdown would come on before TMNT...ah the memories of the good old Cartoon Network....). I started drawing her in March of 2008, when I was in the Sixth grade and started getting into drawing.

It wasn't until much later that year when I began to give her a story and personality, as I had found other people online who also had TMNT OC's. I was so intrigued that I posted Kimmy up on forums and DeviantArt, and a lot of friends I had made, either on MySpace( which was the major social media everyone had before Facebook), RP Forums, and other sites, took a liking to my turtle. Instantly making her my mascot, though she wasn't the most popular, I didn't care. Over the years, Kimiko has never once faded from my mind. As I improved in my art and writing, Kimiko had improved as well, I'm pretty sure I've drawn her more than anything else.... XD

It has been a little over ten years since Kimiko's initial creation, and all I can say is that I probably wouldn't be here or creating other characters and storylines if it weren't for her. For sure, Kimiko is the best thing I have ever had the pleasure of creating. That is just how special Kimiko is. <3

Along with Splinter, Leonardo, Donatello, Michelangelo, and Raphael, Kimmy had mutated along with them. ( _Allow me to go full nerd for a sec here-_

_Unlike 2012, this is the only occurrence of the green ooze/mutagen until much much later in the series, and even that point didn't last long until it was resolved with a retro-mutagen gas...Leatherhead was an accident, I know that sounds so mean, but that's how he happened in 2k3....then again, Master Splinter and the TMNT were also an accident...considering how it happened.... there's also the experiments from the Notes from the Underground segment, but even they get cured and become human once more. There are other creatures in the 2k3 universe, so yeah, mutants in 2003 are not as common as they are in 2012..meaning if you want a mutant animal, they will most likely grow up under Splinter's care, even if you want them paired with one of the turtles..._

_There is another universe in this series that has anthropomorphic animals and martial artists, as well as a gigantic Nexus that connects to every other universe out there, one would have to know how to draw the correct symbols of a portal and an enchantment in order to be able to cross over to the Nexus and get to 3rd Earth( the Nexus term for our Planet) through another portal but only a select few in each world know about that._

_Okay, I'm done going full Nerd on you all! As stated before, I've watched this series from the start of season one all the way to the final episode of Back To The Sewers, more times than I can count xD_ )

Kimiko is in no way, shape, or form related to the turtles by blood.

Kim is the smallest at a height of 4'9" and youngest turtle at fourteen.

She was born prematurely but thanks to the ooze that mutated her and her family, she survived.

Due to an effect of the ooze, her shell eventually stopped growing with her, leaving her lower abdomen exposed which she keeps covered with a pink skirt.

She is also very allergic to the fumes of nail polish and rubbing alcohol.

She has short green hair, lime-green skin, and icy, blue eyes.

Her mask color is well, Pink, not only is it her favorite color, she likes it because it can be kind of a distraction. Slow minded individuals would think it's a girlish, bright color and that she would be frail, weak, innocent, and in-over-her-head before getting a good bashing from the turtle.

Kimmy has a large fascination for Japanese mythology and culture. She is able to speak the Japanese language very well.

She is skilled in making weapons and likes to collect whatever she finds. Her main weapon of choice currently, are wakizashi swords, or well, just swords in general, as she is most comfortable weilding them.

Kimiko is highly observant and is able to adapt to most situations, she is also very fast.

She is great with the art of illusion, make someone think one thing, but do something completely different in the process.

As an infant to a toddler, Kimiko would often get sick, usually mild fevers that would last about a week due to the fact that well....they couldn't really get the proper medication for her. In the future years, they became less and less frequent, to a point where they haven't come back in her teenage years.

If she had a voice actress, it would be Erica Schroeder / Bella Hudson (she voiced the Dark Magician Girl and Akiza from Yu-Gi-Oh! As well as Blaze the Cat from the Sonic the Hedgehog games) (since the cast for TMNT 2003 was all done by 4Kids! Entertainment it would be fitting for Kimiko's voice actress be someone who worked with 4Kids!)

Theme song of choice- The Best Damn Thing by Avril Lavigne

<https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vWUJ8vSclAA>

Lastly, Kimiko is a bit of a geek when it comes to technology, like Donatello in a way.


	2. 1

Hamato Splinter sat in the middle of the darkness of the lair, the only source of light was the small candle stick that was on the cane he held up. The mutant rat then began a training exercise," Remember, to be a true ninja you must become one with the shadows. Darkness gives the ninja power, while light reveals the ninja's presence. "Then Splinter signaled the initial start for his students who were hiding around him," Now, can you extinguish this flame without revealing yourselves?" Splinter finished while taking the candle into his free hand.

**-Kimiko's POV-**

I pressed myself up against the one of the far corners of the lair, watching Master Splinter's every move, as well as come up with a strategy. First up was Donatello, who came in from another side of the lair and simply pounced to try and take the candle, of course that was a real practical move. Sensei only had to lower the candle to make Donnie miss entirely and have his face meet with the wall opposite from me. "Too noisy ,Donatello." Master Splinter said while rolling his eyes. I turned my attention to the wall I was on, I needed to start moving closer before someone else beats me. I proceeded to siddle along the edge of the wall at a somewhat slow pace. I heard Michelangelo swinging his nunchucks followed by him smacking into Don, "Too clumsy, Michelangelo." Sensei said plainly.

I looked back up at Sensei as Raphael then pounced at our master, making a loud entrance as ever, poor choice dude.... Sensei easily dodged him, but Raph quickly got back on his feet, twirling his twin sai. Then I got an idea! As soon as Raph charged as Master Splinter, I swiftly, but stealthily tailed behind my brother. The moment Sensei tripped Raphie-boy with his cane and sent him hurling at Mike and Donnie, I pushed away from the wall and readied one of my wakizashi( _wakizashi are swords like the katana, but a bit smaller_ ) to slice the candle. Unfortunately the moment I was about to strike, I was interrupted by Leonardo, who dropped from the ceiling and used his twin katana to do pretty much what I was about to do and succeeded....Leo blew out the candle and Sensei turned on the lights. I pursed my lips and puffed my cheeks, while groaning in annoyance. "Man...I was so close."

Leo chuckled as he sheathed his swords," There's always next time, Little Turtle." Sometimes...I hate being a short turtle...that doesn't mean my size isn't helpful though.

I put my weapon away as the other three, Mikey, Don, and Raph, got up from where they were. Raphael grumbled angrily at Leo,"Teacher's pet."

Leonardo scoffed with a smirk while tossing the blown out candle half at his brother," Ninja drop out." He came back, then they glared at each other.

"Not again...." I said while shaking my head as Mikey and Donnie teased Raphie.

"My sons...please...." Master Splinter with a long sigh and a facepalm," If you are true ninja, you must work harder." With that, the five of us turtles knelt down and paid attention to our sensei as he went on with his lecture," Your path in life will not be an easy one, the outside world will not be an easy one. You are very different in ways the surface dwellers would never understand. You must become **Kage** , shadow warriors. And you must never be discovered by the outside world."

I felt a yawn coming as he spoke, Master Splinter has said these lines many times in the past. About being stealthy, out of sight, staying away from the surface and the people above, so it's kind of predictable....my attention is then drawn to Michelangelo as he is distracted by a small fly...and squashes it while also gaining the attention of everyone else, nice!

Before any of us did anything, the lair suddenly started rumbling about,"What the....what's going on? Mikey what did you cause....?" I asked while getting up.

"Whoa, earthquake!!" Mikey shouted as he and the others got up as well.

Donatello scratched his chin while thinking," In New York? Possible, but not likely...."

"Well whatever it is, we really should evacuate before the place caves in-" I was cut off when something came up through the wall...okay a few somethings...they were tiny robots that looked like mini dinos...."Those....are oddly cute-"Then one roared, revealing rows of sharp teeth as he and his buddies charged forth," Not cute, not cute! I take that whole statement back!"

"Whatever they are, they picked the wrong party to crash!" Raphael said before we all started to fight the small robots.

I withdrew my swords and sliced one into bits, then moved on to the next, taking the little buggers out with really no problem at all. I kicked another one of the robots away from me, letting it get hit with one of Leo's katana," These things are easy!" Of course that jinxed it, because now Master Splinter was having trouble with a whole gang of these bots. The guys moved in to aid our sensei, but before I could join in, the pests managed to chew through the lair's support structure, causing the place to cave in. I backed away until my back came into contact with a wall. Then, I dropped my swords and crouched for cover as best as I could, when it all got really dark and quiet..."G-guys?" I called out, hoping for some response, I couldn't feel their presences anywhere nor did I get an answer....until I heard my shell cell ringing.

I took it out and answered it, the greenish light from the phone illuminated the area, showing a bunch of rubble around me, and the wall I backed into," Yo."

"Kimiko!! Thank goodness.." I heard Don say with a relieved sigh," Where are you?"

"Separated for starters...but okay...other than that...I think I'm stuck..." I took the chance to look at my surroundings when I spotted the escape route the two of us made a while back," Actually no, I'm not....I can get out....what about you and the other three and Master Splinter?"

"We're fine, Kim," Came the voice belonging to Leonardo," And so is sensei, he's been separated from us as well, but he's alright. In fact we just contacted him. We are to meet with him at the old drainage junction at South Point."

It is a good thing I know these tunnels well...."Got it, shouldn't take too long to get to."

"And if you get lost just call and big bro Mikey will come and save you~" I heard a certain goof tease.

I growled some at his joking," Raph....." Then came a loud thud and Mikey whining in slight pain," Thank you~ Alright, Kimiko out!"

I hung up my shell cell and picked up my weapons. Then looked around to make sure none of those evil robots were near me. I walked over to the entrance of the escape route I mentioned earlier and pushed aside a wooden crate that blocked it. This route was a small tunnel that you had to crawl through which would lead to one of the western tunnels.

When I got to the other side of the tunnel, I took a right, this would lead me to the main entrance to the lair, I could've gone left, but that part had caved in like everything else, plus it would have taken longer. To my luck, as soon as I reach the end of the right side, I bump into another caved in part..."Can't go forward......can't go back....there's gotta be a way out...wait a minute.." I looked up and sure enough, there was a way out...but that would mean hitting the surface as well, but it's the only way out so by all means," Guess I'm going up....remember, stick to shadows and out of sight." I climbed up to the manhole cover and lifted it up some to get a view of where I was. By the looks of it, I was in a small alley way, thankfully, it was empty too. There was a fire escape that I could use to get to higher ground, along with a bunch of clotheslines that had laundry drying on them.

I hopped out and carefully put the manhole cover back where it was. Then darted to the dumpster under the fire escape. Before climbing up, I checked to make sure the coast was clear. Then I reached up for one of the metal bars to get up, but pulled back immediately as I spotted a group of figures leaping over from the rooftops above. They have got some mad skill though...oddly enough, each one had the same get up, not suspicious at all...

So, after about a minute of waiting to be safe, I climbed up the fire escape and started to tail these men, all while using my ninja stealth to avoid detection. Not sure if these guys are apart of a cult of some sort, but they seemed to be busy with something. I followed them until they came to a stop at another alley. Across from where we were, there were more of these guys, they seemed to be....ninjas? Well they certainly have the look right.....

The ninja people then all jumped down into the alley at once, I ran over to the edge of the roof I was on to see what was up...to my surprise, they were fighting my brothers! Okay so they are bad ninjas.....good to know!

I jumped down and kicked a couple of the opposing ninja down in the process, joining my bros as well," Hey, I'm not late am I?" I said while punching another ninja and having Raphael kick him out of the way.

"Actually you're just in time for action!" Leonardo chuckled while taking on three of these ninja.......sometimes I think he just wants to show off....

"Well really, you missed the easy part, but I doubt you'd want something that easy, right?" Raphie said while roundhouse kicking a few, but these ninja kept getting back up.

I drew one of my wakizashi and it clashed with a sword belonging to another one of these ninja," Right, I mean, those other little robot things weren't even a challenge. Now these bozos-"I flipped over my opponent and landed a spin kick on his back, just to get into a brawl with his friend," are what I like to fight."

"But you've never fought them at all until now.." Mikey brought up as he got kicked and sent flying to a large truck along with Donnie.

"Whatever...." I mumbled while I use my sword to catch and tangle my opponent's chain whip. Next, I yank my weapon back like a fishing rod, pulling the enemy ninja towards me. Once he was close enough, I grabbed him by the shirt and started wailing kicks to his gut and a knee to the forehead, knocking the guy out cold. To make matters worse, there was still more of these goons, and I was starting to wear down," They just don't know when to quit..."

Suddenly there came a loud hum, seems that Donatello got the truck running," This bus leaving for anywhere but here!" Indicating that we were getting the shell out of here! I kicked away a few more goons before hoping into the back of the truck with Leo, Raph, and Mikey while Don floored it.

Even though the ride was very bumpy, I found myself laying flat on my shell with my arms spread out on the floor," Okay....that was crazy..." I said in between breaths, as Donnie made sharp as shell turns, I found myself sliding around from side to side like a hockey puck.

"Tell me about it!" Mikey replied," It's been like, one mondo bizarre-o day! First those robot things underground and...what's up with those ninjas?? Ninjas in New York City?! Besides us!? It's just not right!!"

"Talk about not right." Raph added when he unzipped a large bag that contained a bunch of money which he dumped out in the truck."Check this out."

Of course Mikey grabbed a bundle," Show me the money!!" he cheered with a greedy grin.

That was when Leonardo got up to take the money from him," This isn't finder's keepers Mikey." So then, we did the right thing and threw the money at some cops to let them handle it, after that we drove off to South Point, where the drainage junction that Master Splinter told us to get to...thankfully, Donnie drove slower and less crazy....Sure enough, our master was there waiting for the five of us....though it would seem he had some unwelcome guests, more of those dinosaur robots from before...but by the dismembered robot parts...I say that our father was fine...

I sat up and rubbed my head from the roller coaster of a car ride we just had then kicked open the back to get out. "Note to self...be careful where you lay down in a truck...." I caught up with my brothers and reunited with Master Splinter.

Leo spoke up first, he was just as relieved as we all were," So much has happened today..."

Our master chuckled some," Yes yes, you can all tell me about it later, Leonardo, but first, I wish to take you all, _home_." He said while walking towards a large hole...yay home-wait.....did I hear right?

"H-home?" I tilted my head in confusion....did I hit my head enough times in the truck or something?

"We got no home," Raph stated while kicking away the head of a dead robot," Those things trashed our pad, remembah sensei?"

I nodded in agreement with the hothead," That's right....which got us mixed up in to everything that's happened up until now...."

"Do not worry." Master Splinter reassured us," For I have found a current solution to out current housing problem. Now, follow me, my kin." Then we watched him jump down the hole.

Us turtles exchanged glances until Leo spoke while shrugging," Ladies first then, Kimmy." I responded with a shrug back at him then went down the hole. As it turns out, the whole was a slide actually! I used my shell like a skateboard and skidded down until I reached the end and met with sensei. I heard the boys tumbling down and got out of the way, watching them crash into each other before walking onward with Splinter.

"Never knew this part of the sewers existed....wherever you're taking us must be perfect, sensei." I commented with a little grin," Well hidden and all..."

Mikey then caught up with us and blabbed his mouth," I dunno....this doesn't seem like 'home'.."

"Look with your heart Michelangelo, not with your eyes, and walk this way." Master Splinter lectured as we kept walking. I looked back at the orange-masked turtle to see him imitate the way sensei was walking....until Donnie did us all a favor and whacked the idiot in the head with his staff.

Master Splinter ended up leading us to a large cavern, it..it was....beautiful! Excluding all the mess everywhere though," Doesn't seem like anyone's been here in ages.....just...wow....truly amazing!" I took the time to explore the area, it had just enough rooms, each one a fairly decent size. Just tune this place up a bit and we'll have an underground paradise!

I hopped back down just as Master Splinter spoke,"You see, my kin _( Splinter's gonna start saying that instead of 'my sons', since well, Kimmy's a girl and all)_ , change is good."

"We couldn't agree more sensei." Leo responded with a happy smile.

"Good, now let's see you five clean up for a change, this chamber is filthy..." Sensei said causing us turtles to groan heavily.

"Well, someone's gotta do it right?" Then I got to work with my brothers," Besides, it'll be all worth it when we're done~." Gotta stay positive...after all....who knows what could happen next after today....


	3. 2

****

**-Kimiko's POV-**

It had been a few weeks since all the craziness that had happened, evil robots destroyed the old lair, we run into evil ninjas, and eventually moved into our new lair, and underground cavern which was well... _perfect!_ There's a pool in the center, Mikey's setting up a wall of TVs, Don's got his computer area, and best of yet, everyone has their own room~!

Right now, I'm just working on my room and it's almost finished. My bed is on the far right side, next to it is a makeshift end table with my laptop on it, which Donnie fixed up. In the back of the room against the wall is my bookshelf, behind it though is a secret entrance that leads to an abandoned warehouse on the surface. The guys and Splinter don't know about it yet, so for now, I'll keep it a secret still, as a little get-a-way of my own…..because being the only girl and having to deal with four older brothers for fourteen years…. _sucks_ ….okay maybe they're not that bad….but still….I gotta have my ' _me_ ' time, you know?

I tightened the last bolt on one of my weapon racks before I went to check with Mikey and Don. Before I could speak, Leo and Raph had just returned from gathering stuff from the old lair,” Good news Mikey! Your DVD collection survived!” Leo said as he tossed a large box that was brimming full with DVDs. Most of which were classic horror movies.

“Awesome!!!” Mikey grinned when he caught it, then turned on the many TVs,” Let's throw in something lite on story and heavy on gory! Cuz the video monolith is ready to rock and roll!” On the many screens was a Channel 6 News broadcast, featuring the famed Stocktronics Incorporated, the city's leading technology firm. My orange-masked brother yawned as he pointed the remote at the TV,” Booorrinnngg!”

“Hang on, I wanna see this first.” Donnie said, stopping Mikey from changing the channel.

“ I do too, this could be something important.” I added whilst examining a dismantled robot, the same type of robot that trashed our old lair. Maybe he has something to do with these,... very fine little works of technology to be quite honest...

I looked back at the TV as the CEO of Stocktronics, Baxter Stockman, made his speech,” A wise man once said, _'build a better mousetrap and the world will lead a path to your door.'_ , I say, let the path seeking begin! For I, Dr. Baxter Stockman, have designed a solution for the city's ever growing rat problem.” The scientist then proceeded with his presentation and lifted the cover off his project,” Ladies and gentlemen, I give you the **Stocktronic Mouser**!” We all gasped at the tv, on screen was another one of those robots, so he was behind their invention, these...' _mousers_ ' as he put it, the very things that wrecked our old home….

“And he passed these little pests as a good thing?? When clearly they're destructive and can seriously damage the city….you guys saw the way those mousers chewed through the cinder block, right? Like it was nothing!” I said, setting down the mouser part I was looking at and walked over to the guys.

Raphael on the other hand growled and broke one of the smaller TVs with his sai,” Well I say we go over to Stocktronics and kick some serious shell!” Then he started stomping off in a fit of anger.

Then our master stepped out in front of the hothead,”Absolutely not!” Master Splinter said in a strict tone as he smacked Raph in the head with his walking stick,” Your last venture to the surface was a disaster. You cannot afford to be seen by more humans.”

Our attention was again directed at the TV as Stockman went on with a demonstration of how the mousers work. His lab assistant, April O'neil, released a bunch of rats into a maze, and then Stockman places the robot at the starting point….let's just say that it was very gruesome to watch….

**\---**

Later, we were in the middle of training, it was pretty much weapons practice, my favorite~. I watched as Leo and Don were knocked back by Sensei. Don had leaned with his shoulders, preventing him from being able to swing his bo staff very far, Leo didn't have a counter attack ready for when Splinter sent him flying off, then there's Mikey who was careless with his footing and took a hit from sensei. While making these observations it was hard for me to figure out when to strike, one wrong move and I'll end up with my face on the hard ground-”You overthink, Kimiko.” Master Splinter's voice came from behind me, I jumped and turned before I too, was kicked back and ended up eating it after all,”If you think too much on what is coming, you lose sight of everything else.” I got back up in time to see Sensei pin Raph to one of the pillars with his stick,” You are distracted Raphael. You must learn to focus.”

Raphie grumbled as Splinter pulled away from him,” I'd like to focus my attacks on that Stockman guy. Why can't we go topside and show him a little mean and green?!”

“Because I forbid it.” Splinter spoke with much strictness as he went to his room,” We will resume your training in the morning.”

I sheathed my swords and stretched my arms while letting out a yawn,” Well I'm going to bed...I'm beat...”

“That's actually not a bad idea, little sis.” I heard Raph say as he also yawned and left to his room.

“Uh...okay then...” I turned around to get to my room but paused to speak with Leonardo,” You may wanna keep a close tab on hothead there.”

The blue-masked turtle nodded in understanding,” Right...since when does Raph ever turn in so...early?”

I shrugged, getting too tired to want to think,” Knowing him...he's probably going to you-know-where later. Anyway...goodnight Leo.”

“Goodnight Kimmy.” Leo said before I went to my room to sleep.

**-A few hours later-**

I woke up when I heard my brothers talking with….an unfamiliar voice….it was feminine by the sound of it...So I jumped out of bed and peeped out of my door to see what was happening. It was that April girl from Stocktronics, she works for that Stockman guy, why is she here?

Well, the boys seemed to be okay with her, Master Splinter as well...they were talking about going to Stocktronics and busting Stockman for his crime to use his mouser robots to rob banks and get rich...then...they left...except for Sensei….he went back into his room. Perhaps I can meet the group at Stocktronics….besides, I wanna pay Stockboy a friendly visit as well, _ninja style~_ I'm actually planning as I go, while Leo and the others were going to Stocktronics through the sewers, I was going there above ground...giving Stockman two surprises from two different directions at once...Although I'm taking the riskier route...being on the surface means I could get spotted by others….

I pushed my bookshelf aside, revealing a spiral carving, much like the designs everywhere else in the lair. I traced my index finger along the carving and a doorway formed, allowing me to move forward into a small tunnel. I pulled the bookshelf back in place before proceeding through the passage that led to an odd looking elevator….yeah….it's an elevator by the same architect by just looking at it. Whoever designed this lair….was a genius…There was another way that went deeper into the tunnel, I didn't fully explore it, so for now, it's closed off until further notice.

The elevator took me to the abandoned warehouse on the surface. I searched the it for anything I could use and found a black,hooded cloak someone had left behind. Under it was shoulder armor and a long-sleeved, dark grey bodysuit with line patterns on it...the same spiral patterns from before...it all seemed like a little much, but at least I'll be covered. I quickly put it all on and strapped my sword belt and my gear on afterwards. I tied my hair into a small but tight bun and pulled the hood over my head, then hopped onto the rooftops and started for Stocktronics. On the way, I spotted some of those evil ninja from before off in the distance. Even further off was a tall building, it had the same red symbol that was on the outfits those ninja wore. Just who are they and who are they working for?

Completely ignoring my original mission, knowing the others will be just fine...I hope...I changed my objective and followed the ninja who were going towards the tall building. They got to a roof right next to it, then the ninjas dropped down into the empty alley below and disappeared into the building. I stood back to get a good look of what I'm dealing with. Above the large symbol was a small, red-roofed balcony and above that was a larger balcony with a couple trees, it was very Japanese like as well. Now, how do I go about getting in….I moved along the buildings that surrounded it to look for a good entry point. The only windows were right at the top, and the only security cams were near ground level. So, I took out my grappling hook gun and fired it at the smaller balcony. I gave it a few tugs to make sure the hook was wedged in tight enough before I swung off the roof I was on and onto my destination. Once I was on the balcony, I cut off the cable to the hook and threw the hook to the roof I was just on to make sure no one can really find out I was here.

I put away my gun and then tucked the cape end of the cloak I was wearing in to my belt so that it wouldn't dangle around and catch attention. That's the last thing a ninja would want….no matter how ridiculous I just made myself look... I pulled out my shuko spikes( _climbing claws_ ) and latched myself onto the ceiling and progressed inside. This was only to be a recon mission, go in, see what's up, then leave. Now that I think about it, entering this place was just way too easy….up ahead was a room with a bunch of tech people with odd looking eye wear, so from ninjas to...technicians…Evil, expensive I.T. Tech Support of some kind?

Conveniently there was an air vent I could climb up on my left, but before I did I scanned the room ahead one last time to see and elevator open. Out of it came this mammoth of a man, he was big muscled, had a Purple Dragon tattoo along with a tattoo of that red symbol, and had three long scars on the left side of his face. He went out of the room through a different hallway....Now I do not think I wanna cross paths with that guy… at least, not any more than I may have to….Okay, back to the mission….

I took out a shuriken to carefully pry open the vent and then climbed upwards until I got to a horizontal angle. Across the shaft were many different paths that I could take...most probably leading to more rooms like this….a bunch of these passage ways turned up and down, it seemed a little confusing, so I took the same shuriken I used and made a small marking to indicate where I was going.

It took about half and hour before I reached an empty floor,no technicians, no ninjas...no nothing. Just one, very long hall with two doors at the end, and that same red symbol was there. I crawled out of the vent and put away my shuko spikes, then examined the area. There had to be booby traps….and I'm not taking any chances ...so again, I took my grappling hook gun out and reloaded it with a new hook. I aimed it at the ceiling and fired it, anchoring the hook in place. I stepped back until the wire cable couldn't go any further, then, I swung myself over to the doors and kicked them open. I released the cable from the gun and put it back away while I looked to see where I was in the building.

It was a very foggy and dark part of the place, a temple by the looks of it. In the air, were parts of broken pillars, couldn't tell if they were attached to the ceiling or just...floating there. It was like something out of a video game, ya know, like the one with the annoying fairy.

Ahead were five peculiar statues on a set of stairs. They were almost completely identical to each other, they had symbols that seemed to represent five elements, earth, fire, water, wind, and metal...in the back were a bunch of large curtains and nothing else.. _.I wonder if the guys are having more fun than I am….this place is a bummer._..I pressed on to see if there was anything behind the statues and the other stone structures, but there was nothing. I sighed heavily in disappointment and started to turn back….until I heard a creaking noise and whipped around to find that the statues were now pointing to something on the west side of the room, a curtain with the water statue's symbol….that's not creepy at all….So I did what any turtle with a brain would've done and took their advice.

I walked over to the curtain they pointed at and examined it. What's so special about this one? I looked behind it and... _there was an elevator hidden right there_ ….Huh….I should listen to statues more often... I looked back at the five to see that they had moved back into their original positions...yep…..I'm totally going crazy….I got in the elevator rode it on up….and geez, this was one long ride...I took the time to fix my cloak to wear my face was well hidden. I also stretched my arms and legs out. By the time the elevator came to a stop I was done and slowly walked out. Judging from where I was by the large windows on both sides, I was at the top. This room was empty as well, it was very Japanese like. Aside from the windows, the only lighting in the room were from a few torches. In the center was a large, matted part and a small desk further in the back.

I stepped forth, toward the center and down from the ceiling came a bunch of those ninjas from earlier. I was surrounded by them! Okay….I've handled them before...yeah, with your brothers and barely got out of it….I shook my head and drew one of my wakizashi as the ninja charged in to attack. I clashed blades with one of them and punched him as he left himself open. I then grabbed him and flipped over to kick him at another ninja, knocking them both down. Four more ninja with katana came at me, I took out my other sword and blocked them all. Then, I thrust my swords up and roundhouse kicked them, along with a few more from behind me. I heard some chain whips swinging, so I waited until they were thrown to catch them with my swords. Then...I yanked them towards me like I did before and gave the wielders a split kick in the teeth. I untangled my swords, sheathed them, and ducked to let a charging ninja trip and fall out the window. Then I took the chain whips and spun them around like nunchucks, hitting the enemies with relative ease. I kept going at it until they were down….but more arrived after and some from before got back up...some shot arrows and threw shuriken at me, which of course I blocked with my swords. I didn't think I was going to get out alive until..” **Enough!** ” came a rather dark and demanding voice. I turned to where it came from and there was a man in a cream-colored hakama. He was in the back and he had a sharp, emotionless expression, “ I wish to speak with this one, alone.” He said, and the ninja vanished. He turned to me and spoke again,”I see you possess an extraordinary level of skill. To get past my toughest security...very impressive. Tell me, what do you call yourself?”

I should not use my real name...uh...but what do I say? Uh...ummm,”I go by the name, Kuro Katana, not the best but, it is something.” ... **Lamest. Name. Ever** ….I spoke using a soft, almost British accent,why? Because why the shell not? After all, I'm still in recon mode, kinda,”and...you are?”

“I am Oroku Saki, eighth generation master of ninjutsu.” The man said as he demonstrated a few really powerful moves, “As well as the head of this organization, the Foot Clan. I would like you to know that out there is a corrupt and evil force, working its insidious tentacles into every aspect of our very world. It is a group devoted to obtaining power through crime, political manipulation, corruption on a global level.” Saki paced back and forth as he continued to speak,” Unfortunately,the only thing standing against this dark threat is me and my, humble army on ninjas. We stand alone against them as my master did, and his master before him. It has been my destiny to fight for the side of good.” Then he came up to me with his hand out,” I hope that you would find it in your best interest to join me. With you on the right side, someone who possesses your kind of skill, I am sure that this evil will parish.”

I gave it some thought, he sounded a bit, rehearsed to be truthful..but I mean...if what Saki says is true, then by all means, I want to be able to protect my family from this threat..or any threat as a matter of fact....but it feels as if there's something missing...something he isn't telling me...what would Master Splinter do?….I guess for now I'll just have to keep him in check, even if that means making a deal with the devil....

"Where do I begin?”


	4. 3

I had returned to the secret warehouse above my room after making my decision to join the Foot Clan. I have to handle the deadbeats who don't do their fair share and dissolve some of the threats the organization has every so often...I also do the espionage work, or well, spying and using the art of illusion to get what Master Saki needs...wait... _Master_ Saki?..That doesn't sound right at all…

I opened the garage door of the warehouse and made sure no one had followed me before going in and closing it. Now that I get a good look of the place, I might as well turn this into my own hideout. There's enough room for a blacksmith forge, a place for paperwork, maybe get a TV and install a computer that would hook up to the Foot Clan's network, some weapon racks, and just whatever I see fit...of course I was also going to lay down heavy security, up here and in the passage leading to my room.

I stripped off the cloak I was wearing, as well as the bodysuit and then put my normal ninja gear on. I hid the previous outfit in a well hidden part of the warehouse and then went down the elevator, and straight to my room. It was already almost midnight when I heard my brothers and April come into the lair. I came out of my room, faking a yawn and rubbing my eyes. I hopped down the second story of the lair to greet them,” Sup guys? And umm...who is this?” I asked, looking at the redheaded female.

“Hey Sleeping Beauty.”Mikey joked as he put his arm around my shoulder and introduced April to me,” This fine woman here is April O'Neil, we saved her earlier when you were asleep.” Then my brother started to ruffle my hair while keeping his cheeky grin...,” April, this adorable, yet ferocious and sassy little turtle is our baby sister, Kimiko~” Oh I'll show you ferocious….I grabbed Mikey's arm and he made his famous girly scream as I did. I pulled him forwards, slamming him on the ground and off of me.”Oww….Did I mention she can be evil?”

I dusted my hands off before facing April,” Uh, sorry about that goofball, ma’am, but yeah, I'm Kimiko. I go by Kimmy or Kim for short.”

“Oh don't worry, I'm sure that I'm used to him by now.” April said, lightly laughing at the orange-masked turtle on the ground,” Anyway, it's a pleasure to get to meet you...I have to say, Kim, it sure is nice to finally meet another girl for a change.”

“Boy do I know what you mean,”I chuckled some myself,” As a matter of fact, you're the only other girl I've met, April. Cuz you know….my appearance and all.” Then I turned my attention to my bros,” So, where'd you guys go?”

“Well,” Raph started,” Ya missed out on our little field trip to Stocktronics and bustin' Stockman for bein' naughty. Wish ya coulda been there for the whole shebang.”

I frowned, well..I had to fake it...about that Foot membership stuff….I don't think I want to bring them into it….not yet anyway,” Really?! I missed it?!” I huffed a slightly depressing sigh,” Man..oh well...”

“Don't feel bad, Kim,” Leo said reassuringly as he pat my shoulder,” You can bet your shell you'll be coming with us next time something comes up.” I don't know what it is with him, but Leo always seems to be able to put me in a good mood...even if I'm faking something like I am now...

I felt a light smile form along my lips as I shrugged,"Alrighty."

After that, when everyone was asleep, I went back to my hideout to start tuning it up. I occasionally checked the time as I worked and by four in the morning I went back into my room before the day started. The blacksmith part is almost near completion. The whole warehouse should be finished within another week, including trips to the junkyard, getting permission to use Donnie's tools, and getting just what I needed.

You know, now that I think about it, the outfit I had worn to the Foot Headquarters could easily blow my cover...So I'm gonna need some new armor as well _(look my artwork at the top :D that's what her armor looks like ouo)_ ...I grabbed my laptop and looked for ideas on what I could do...by five a.m. I had a new battle armor sketched out. Not only would it help keep my appearance hidden, but it'll protect me as well as give me...sort of an intimidating look. The armor would need to be done by Friday, when I officially begin work for the Foot Clan. That includes getting a good schedule going and making absolute sure that the boys and Sensei don't catch on…

**-Timeskip to Friday, Friday, Gettin' down on Friday~-**   
_( I am so sorry for that....)_

After spending so much time on my own objectives, I am finally ready to begin work with the Foot. Thankfully my brothers were busy tonight, Raphie mentioned going after some whack-bag vigilante in Central Park….I told them I was really tired and….yeah….here I am, in my completed suit of ninja armor, on my way to well...learn the ropes and help Saki handle this threat he went on about….

My armor is made of a very strong type of steel and it covers my entire body, excluding my head, which is covered with a metal mask that attaches to my hood, the design sorta reminds me of a hawk. I've also got a mouth cover on which is connected to a hooded cape which has tears near the end, giving a much more intimidating look. On my upper chest area, is a large emblem of the Foot Clan, and lastly, because of that very _very_ lame title that I gave myself….yeah I still can't believe I said that either….I had to make myself two black, steel katana….they're cool though!

Time to get going….can't show up late...so I exited my warehouse and hit the rooftops. I went past Central Park on the way….I saw Raph and some human guy with dark hair were wrestling of all things and Leo, Don, and Mikey were just watching...guess they made another new friend that I have to meet...man...who else are they gonna meet? I shook my head and went on to the Foot Headquarters, then up to Oroku Saki's floor. There, I saw him and that large muscled, blond man from before in the back…….oh boy….I stepped forward and approached them. “Kuro Katana, reporting for duty sir.” I said, using my British voice again and bowing before Saki.

“This....This is the new recruit, Master?” The brute man questioned as I felt his eyes upon me,” With all do respect, she don't look like much….”

“Do you question whom I choose to recruit for my organization, Hun?” Saki said with an incredibly cold glare at the blond man, Hun, as he was called.

Hun held his arms up in defense,”N-no Master...” Wow….so much for me getting nervous about that guy….then again, if Saki is able to do just that, to make someone like Hun flinch like that….there must be more to the boss than I thought….

“This new addition is one that I know will prevail.” Then Saki turned his attention to me, with the same deadly look,” Tonight, we will put your ' _expertise_ ' to the test. One of our clients has decided not to abide by the factors of a rather vital agreement we had formed some time back. You are to sneak into their base of operation, and burn it to the ground, show them what happens when they do not obey. Do I make myself clear?”

So, I go in and blow the place up…..sounds simple enough,” As you wish, Master. I shall not fail you.”

“We shall see.” Then Saki's eyes darted to Hun,” Show her the coordinates and prepare her. You are dismissed.”

And with that, I followed the large man out of the room and into the elevator. All of a sudden, he got all up in my face,” Listen here, welp. Master Shredder don't tolerate failure and neither do I. So you either do exactly as he wants or you end up without a limb or worse.”

Okay first off big guy...a few tic-tacs will do you some wonders...second... _Master Shredder_? Is that what Saki goes by? “ Understood.” Was all I said as we reached a lower level of the building, one of the many labs. Hun ' _politely_ ' shoved a handheld GPS in my hands which had the location of where I needed to go. Then I was given a couple explosives by a surprise employee, Baxter Stockman...oh yeah….the very same Stockman who created those evil, little mousers…the dude was missing his eye and is like a pirate professor….but now...I'm really starting to question this Foot Clan….As if Hun with that Purple Dragon tattoo wasn't suspicious enough...same for this assignment I was given…so yeah….doesn't seem like a very humble organization after all….yet….what's Oroku Saki not telling me? Again...I'll just have to keep an eye on him for now….

I also grabbed a few other gadgets I found that could be of use, like some knockout gas bombs and one of those spy tools that can cut an opening through glass...forgot what they're called...another tool I grabbed was something Stockman needed me to test, for his latest 'Foot Tech' gear. Basically what this did was turn the user invisible to the naked eye. Interesting little bug...I'll have to examine it back at the lair..

I left the building and followed the map coordinates on the GPS until I reached the docks on the other side of the Manhattan Bridge. The hideout I needed to get to was on the eastern side and was a fairly large factory building. There were a bunch of trucks in the back and a large cargo ship docked in the East River. There were also a few cars parked in the back as well, indicating that there were people inside.

I activated the cloaking device, which worked pretty nicely, and snuck inside through an open garage door. Then I hid myself in one of the darker corners to see just how many people were actually here. From the room I was standing in, there were three, and then a fourth guy over in the office. To my side, was a lever with a large cable that ran up and through the ceiling, most likely for the electricity. I withdrew one of my new katana and slashed at the cable, causing the power to go off. Then I threw a couple of the knockout gas bombs before gathering the unconscious people one by one and getting them the shell out of here. I may have to blow this place up….but Saki never said anything about killing anyone….….I dragged the civilians out and put them into a dumpster across the street, but slipped in an image of the Foot Clan symbol to get the message across to them when they wake up….what? I have to act fast here!

I went back to the factory and slashed about at the other cables that were connected to the main source before setting down a few charges. I set a few more around the entire lot, as well as in the cargo ship….Then, from the trucks that were around, I pried open the gas tanks and let the gasoline spill out. Finally, I grabbed a safety boat from the cargo ship and high-tailed it out through the river. Once I was far enough, I deactivated my cloaking device and set off the trigger, then watched the fireworks go. Mission complete.

When I returned to Foot Headquarters, I reported to Oroku Saki immediately. I rode the elevator to the top and knelt before him. “The mission was a success, sir.”

“Excellent.” Was all Saki said, his face still cold and emotionless as ever. Then I was dismissed until my next job. Until then, I reported to Stockman about the success of his Foot Tech devices and left for home to change out of my armor and get to bed. I gotta say though….missions like the one I did just now….it...it actually felt pretty good…..I kinda had fun….and I want more…-wait...what did I just think??….oh man....I seriously hope I don't turn to the Dark Side of the Force now….


	5. 4

After about an hour or two of sleep _(should mention that I'm not in my Foot armor…)_ , I heard Leonardo's alarm clock ring loudly. My head ached liked shell and that wasn't helping me at all...Him and his stupid over achieving habits! He's my best friend all but oh my shells this is annoying...

I tossed and turned in bed trying to ignore the alarm... Eventually, I ended up plugging my ears and shutting my eyes tighter until I drifted off to sleep again.

**-About two hours later-**   
**-Third Person POV-**

Kimiko's eyes peeped open a bit as someone was gently pushing her. Through a bit of a blurry eyesight after just waking up, she noticed a bit of blue that dangled a bit. Which easily gave away who had just woke her up, Leonardo. “Kim? Hey, Kimmy...” He said in a light tone. All the green-haired, mutant, turtle girl responded with, was a scratchy, high-pitched, little hum.” It's time to get up, almost time for training, Little Turtle.”

“kay...” Kim said as she sat up from her bed, on her knees while rubbing her eye and yawning at the same time. Occasionally nodding off every few seconds and yawning a bit more.

“Did you stay up all night again?” Leo asked with an annoyed sigh, watching her drowsy figure get up at an extremely slow pace, “ You know that's not good for you….”

Giving up on getting up herself, and ignoring what he said, she held her arms out wide toward the older turtle,” Carry me...” She said a voice similar to that of a small child,” Pwease Weo….”

Shaking his head, Leonardo knelt down with his shell facing her,” You're lucky you're the cute one...you know that?”

Kimmy leaned forth and wrapped her arms around his neck as Leo held her up by her hind legs. He stood back up and began walking out of her room. As he did, his sister rested her head against his shell,”Nah…..you're just an awesome bro.”

The blue-masked turtle chuckled with a shrug as he hopped down to the ground level of the lair,” Yeah….I guess I am.”

“Whoa….guys, check out the news!” Donatello half-shouted from across the lair, gaining the attention of all his siblings. He pointed to the news screen, showing a huge fire from the night before and then the aftermath from it,” Some factory in the city had a massive explosion happen. Along with its cargo ship as well….the employees seem to have escaped in time though….” One of the men who were interviewed explained all that had happened before some gas leak ended up knocking him out, and woke in a dumpster with the rest of his co-workers.

“Know what I think? Somethin's seems up….what about you guys?” Raph started, his eyes at the screen.

“Well,” Don said while brainstorming from what he had just seen,” I would think so...I mean….both the building as well as the ship? And then what the worker just mentioned about the gas...”

“We can't tell for sure what's going on now, can we? I mean, this is New York….” Leo responded as he adjusted his hold on Kimiko. Then he heard a faint snoring to his left and sighed...the pink-masked turtle had fallen back to sleep on him,”Kim….please wake up….”

Then, out of the blue, Michelangelo approached his brother and held his arms out,” I have a solution for the little miss. Hand her over.” Leo cocked a brow, what is the goofball scheming now? Well, Kimiko needed to wake up so, Leo obliged. He carefully slid the sleeping Kim into his little brother's arms. Mikey held her bridal style and stepped toward the pool in the center of the lair. He held his sister over the water and spoke,” I pray that I live through what I am about to do….”all while taking a deep breath. Then, he dropped her in the water and ran for his life while screaming like a little girl…..and hid behind the couch of all places...

Kimiko sprang up, spitting out water and shivering her tail off,” M-mikey!!” She shouted angrily as she got out. Donnie came over and handed her a towel to dry off with,” Well...I'm up...”

During training with Master Splinter, the turtles were meditating until the mutant rat told them to stand….which they did...except for Kimiko...”Kimiko, rise.” Splinter ordered..but alas, the short turtle had fallen asleep... _again_..Splinter sighed heavily before smacking his daughter on the head with his walking stick. “Kimiko!”

Kimmy flinched and yelped,”Ow...what?” she whimpered while rubbing the small bump on her head, now she was awake.

“You were sleeping during your training, again.” Splinter said, crossing his arms,” This is the _fifth_ time this week.”

“You aren't starting to get sick again are you?” Donatello questioned. He knelt down and placed his hand against her forehead, “You're body temperature doesn't seem off, however...”

Michelangelo groaned some,” I thought she stopped getting sick years ago….those times were just so boring...Kimmy kept falling behind and we kept having to play catch up when she was feeling okay...”

“Just because she stopped, doesn't mean it won't come back.” Don responded,” You can never be too sure that something's gone for good.”

Kim sighed and gently brushed Don's arm away from her,” I'm fine guys...I just haven't been getting enough sleep at night, that's all...”

“So what exactly are ya' doin' that's keepin' ya up at night?” Raph asked with a risin brow.

The smaller turtle reached in her belt and took out a small, egg-shaped pellet,” Working on my weapons and tools….like this, my ninja smoke bombs.” She stood up and slammed the pellet on to the ground. It burst into a dark smoke, then it faded just as Kimiko appeared behind Raphael within an instant, “I guess I've just been so busy I forget to check the time...”

“Well now that you are awake, let us return to our training.” Splinter said, and so for the next few hours, they did just that. They finished up without any more interruptions and went on with their day.

Kimiko went to the kitchen and took a soda before going back to her room. She got on her laptop and went onto the Foot's secret network to get some work done. She was supposed to start searching for some sword Oroku Saki had his eyes on. The sword's image was that of a samurai sword with a yellow, spiraling hilt. As she did that, she was also focused on finishing her hideout.

**\----**

So for the next few months, all Kimiko did was, go on missions assigned by Oroku Saki or well, Shredder, which he pretty much preferred. These missions were usually to destroy or steal something to show what happens to those who double-cross the Foot Clan or just stop their contracts all of a sudden. Kim was also to other handle business dealings and get information that Shredder needed. On top of that, she worked on the hideout, and kept up with her training, no matter how much it exhausted her...She kept herself at the top in the Foot Clan, and couldn't avoid a failure...one mishap could expose herself...as well as her family. So within time, Kimiko became one of Shredder's elite ninja.

**-Kimiko's POV-**

It was very late at night, the sword the Shredder had sought after had been found, it was being displayed in a museum. So I suited up and met with him to discuss the plan. I was given my orders and proceeded with phase one of whatever he's scheming with a squad of Foot ninja following me. We were also given a special glove….from what Shredder said, it's the only way to actually hold this sword.

First thing we did was sneak into the power company's building and shut down the power to part of the city, where the museum's located. I made sure to cut out the emergency power as well...as for the workers, I used the same knockout gas from before, it works very well.

Then, we made haste getting to the museum. I ordered the ninja to retrieve the sword while I stayed on lookout to make sure there weren't any interference….And sure enough….I spotted four very familiar turtles below, following the ninja I sent in.….this could end up bad...no, this **is** gonna be bad….

The turtles approached the Foot ninja from behind. Just as one of the Foot reached for the sword we needed, Leonardo threw a couple shuriken in the way and stopped him, “Gift shop's on the first floor boys! But they don't take kindly to shoplifters, and neither do we.”

I used my headset to get through to one of the Foot ninja,”Hurry and grab the sword, forget everything else.”

….Only one of my squad of idiots complied and went for the sword again until Raph threw another ninja star….”Ya might wanna consider a few things. One- ya outnumbered. Two- Don't let the pretty faces fool ya pal, we're tougher than we look.”

Okay, that's it….boys….I am so sorry about this….I dropped down and onto the top of the display case the sword was in. I snapped my fingers, then, the rest of my squad of ninja came down. “And three-...we're about to get our butts seriously hammered!” I drew my black katana and held it outwards, signalling for the Foot ninja to attack.

I watched the opposing sides fight, we...the Foot I mean….we're losing! I snapped out of my thoughts when Leonardo charged for me with a leaping kick. I backflipped off of the display case, letting the turtle in blue crash land before we found ourselves clashing blades together.

“I have to admit, you've got skill….” Leo noted as our katana continued to block each other, “Tell me something….who are you, who do you work for, and what are you doing, wasting away your sense of honor by, whatever it is you're doing? What is it going to accomplish?” Gosh you talk to much….but it left him open for me sharply pull my sword back and kick him at the other turtles who were on the ground. A bunch of the Foot ninja were down as well...I sheathed my katana and spotted the glove on the ground, then quickly grabbed it. I put it on and snatched the sword out of the case, “ Stop right there!” I heard Leo yell. Then, I turned to find all four of my brothers standing before me.

I was about to make a run for it when the sword I held suddenly illuminated and a burst of energy shot out from it, sending the four turtles back down. Whatever I did….forgive me….but now, I gotta go… I signaled the conscious Foot soldiers and we made out escape. Man...that was stressful….

Soon, we arrived back at Foot headquarters, I dismissed my squad and proceeded to Shredder's floor with the mysterious sword. I was just in time to see him knock the floor with a bunch of other ninja….he's got moves….I'll give him that….When he was finished, I stepped towards him,” Master Shredder..”

“Kuro Katana….I trust you bring good news.” He said, as strict as usual. I knelt down and presented the sword to him, it was resting on a large, fancy pillow,” Ah,” _That_ _ **bastard**_ _took the sword without even needing the damn glove and started examining it…_ I hate this guy...I really do.” The _Sword of Tengu_ , still just as potent after all these years.” Saki held the sword up, near a suit of armor in a display case...and it lit up again... _._ ,” And still able to locate other artifacts that share its unique origin. Yes...this sword will help me track those who I've been hunting all these years!”…...that has to be the most emotion I have ever seen out of this guy...also.... _Just what the shell kind of sword is this and can I find one off Ebay? Cuz I need me one of them.._

He set the sword back on the pillow,” Bring this to tech division, tell them to proceed with phase two.”

  
“Hai.” was all I responded with and went down the elevator to the labs. All while processing what he had just said….this ' _Sword of Tengu_ ' is not just an incredibly powerful lightsaber, but also a tracker of some sort….and it can track ancient objects that these enemies of his had made….The elevator dinged and opened up as it had reached my floor. I handed over the sword and gave the tech division Shredder's exact orders. Then I left to get ready myself and get a squad of ninja ready as well.

**-Some time later that night-**

I stood watch again after going back to the power company and cutting out the electricity again. This would help up with work...two of our technicians were at the docks working a special canon that was powered by the Sword of Tengu. It was pretty interesting to watch….but I was getting kinda bored…

Then, out of the blue, came a hang glider. It was going near the spot that the canon was searching at. I used my scope to check it out and…..it's Donny! He got closer and closer to the spot before he was then sent in another direction. He was going left and right, back and forth until he eventually hit the water. I hopped from roof to roof until I came to his location, hoping my brother was okay….

Thankfully, he came back up, causing me to sigh in major relief...but what was he doing? I stayed hidden to listen to him, “Man! That water stinks!...and this is coming from a turtle who lives in the sewers...” He must have been speaking to the other three...wherever they are...

I quickly went back to my previous position, only to find that Leo, Mikey, and Raph were duking it out with the rest of my squad of Foot ninja on a pirate ship….a part of me actually wanted to strip out of this damn armor and help my brothers….what Leo said to me earlier...about wasting my sense of honor….it was really starting to bug me….but...what if the Shredder does something wicked and I'm not there to warn them about it….j-just hang in there Kim….I took a deep breath before dropping in and aiding my fellow Foot soldiers.

“Uhh...dudes….the fancy looking Foot ninja's here…..” Mikey said while kicking away a few ninja,” The guy who kicked our shells...with the freaky magic sword.”

“Actually..” Don started as he punched a Foot ninja off the boat, “He happens to be a ' _she_ ' Mikey….judging by the figure.”

The orange-masked turtle paused for a slight minute,“Whoa….we got our butts kicked by a girl….and it wasn't Kimiko's doing?” Then he went back to fighting,” Of course this chick isn't as annoying….”

Okay, he's so eating dirt…..I sprinted forth and appeared right behind Mikey. Then I spin kicked him into Donnie and they both where knocked back and into the water. I was about to face with Raph when one of the technicians reported that they found whatever we were searching for. So, I used a smoke pellet to get out of the fight and then signal for the chopper to come and get the artifact. It swooped down and picked me up. Then I took control and activated the crane to retrieve the item….it was...a robotic figure of some kind...weird….

Below, at the canon, I spotted my bros approach the technicians who operated it….then the Foot members stupidly did something to the machine, causing it to spin out of control….are all these Foot members just idiots or something!?

I flew the chopper down and picked them up before flying off to base….wait….those two forgot the god damn sword!….Oh boy is Shredder going to be _pissed_....and I'm just as pissed off... I had SPENT MONTHS LOOKING FOR THAT STUPID YET AWESOME SWORD....AND THEY LOSE ON THE SAME NIGHT .....MORONS...

Back at headquarters, I followed both technicians to the top floor and let them explain their mistake. We brought back the artifact that was found as well, but, it cost us the sword….Oroku Saki mentioned something about it this, robot thing belonging to his enemies...and that it was proof that they were here in the city….

“S-sir, there were some interferences...these four strange creatures….they came from no where...” One of the techs explained.

“Were these the creatures you saw?” Saki held up a sheet of paper, printed on it were thermal imaged of four figures, no doubt my brothers…

“Oh yes.” Both Foot members said before they were dismissed….and by dismissed, I mean get beaten to a pulp by Hun for their failure...they deserved it :)

“Kuro Katana.” Saki began,” I expect you to keep a close eye out for these abominations. Am I clear?”

I simply nodded,” Yes sir.” Then I left for home….still...what the heck have I gotten myself into….


	6. 5

Kimiko let out a long, heavy sigh as she returned to her hideout. She felt terrible after the encounter with her brothers earlier. She stripped off her Kuro Katana armor and set it aside, but paused as she stared into the reflection given off by the chestplate which is in the shape of the Foot Clan's symbol, "Is this really worth it?" The turtle narrowed her eyes, " You could've ended up seriously hurting your brothers...your family...and now, Shredder wants them hunted down....yourself included most likely."

Then she remembered the robotic suit the technicians found in the ocean. Oroku Saki mentioned that it was proof that his enemies were here in the city somewhere, "Now are they really enemies.....or something else completely?" Kimiko thought back to the Sword of Tengu and the immense power it had, Saki said it shared its origin with that suit, and with that set of armor she saw earlier.

Kim sighed again as she put away the rest of her armor and slipping on her pink skirt and ninja gear, " You aren't doing this stuff to please anyone, you're doing it to keep your loved ones safe from harm and detection....though the detection part is kinda out of the question..."

For the next few days, Kimiko had notified the Shredder that she was doing an independent case that involved researching and hopefully finding the ' _creatures_ ' as they were called. When really, Kim just wanted to be with her family. Ever since she took the job as Kuro Katana, all she really did at home was eat, sleep, train, and work on Foot Clan stuff, without detection from the others of course. Though, it made her wonder if anyone was on to her yet, Master Splinter or Leonardo especially.

Aside from that, she discovered that the very same Sword of Tengu, was now in their possession. Which was actually a good thing, away from the wrong hands, and especially away from the Shredder, the way he smiled when he held it in his hands just screamed ' **bad** '.

  
**\--About Two Weeks Later--**

Master Splinter lit the last candle and faced his students, "Tonight, my kin, our training shall focus on combining to essential disciplines, the way of balance," he paused and clapped his hands, turning off the lights, "and the way of invisibility."

The mutants were standing on top of bamboo poles, trying to keep balance. Michelangelo beamed as he crouched down to speak with Donatello, rather loudly, "Dude, you put in the clapper?!"

That earned the orange-masked ninja a smack in the hand from Splinter's walking stick, "Michelangelo, the way of invisibility also includes the way of **silence**. I suggest you employ both if you wish to avoid my walking stick." Then Splinter backflipped over to Leonardo who avoided him easily. Splinter hopped out of the way of incoming jump kicks by Donatello and Raphael before swinging his stick towards Kimiko's head. The youngest turtle backflipped over her father and caught onto a different bamboo pole, she flipped again to another pole to try and keep her balance. That was when she heard a clap and on came the lights.

"Peek-a-boo, I see you~." Came Mikey as he was near Splinter, who easily knocked him off balance to where he slid down the pole, but clung onto it before hitting the floor, "Hey, don't I at least get points for creativity?"

Master Splinter clapped the lights off and spoke as he moved from pole to pole, " A creative mind must be balanced be a disciplined body. We must learn stillness and alertness, for they are the only defense against the unexpected."

Speaking of unexpected, the elevator in the lair, yes, another elevator by the same people who built the place, opened up and a bright light shined in the lair. Kimiko whipped her head toward the noise and light as she spotted some random, hockey mask wearing man with a duffel bag full of sports equipment enter the lair. Aside from the elevator light and the dimly lit candles, the place was almost pitch dark. So naturally the stranger wandered in blindly, trying to feel his way around, "Uh, guys?" and ended knocking over the whole training set up, as well as the turtles. Kimiko tried to time another backflip right, but her foot landed on a pole which rolled away from her, causing the turtle to crash land shell first on Michelangelo.

She rolled off to see Splinter tackle the man to the ground angrily. " Master Splinter, no!" Leo cried, running over to him with his brothers, "He's okay!"

"This is Casey, the nutca- the guy we told you about." Don added.

"You remember, the igilante-vay?" Mikey said.

"We figured it'd be alright to give him access to the lair," Raph finished, "You know, for emergencies n' stuff."

With that Splinter bowed apologetically and got off the man, "Please for give my rash action."

Don and Mike helped Casey up as he removed his hockey mask," Eh, no problemo.."

"Although next time it'd be wise to use the Ancient Japanese proverb: **Phone First!** " Splinter said with a huff before collecting the fallen bamboo poles.

Casey grinned in awe at the interior of the lair, kicking over stray poles in the process, "Whoa Raph, ya crib's even more awesome than ya said!"

Kimiko dusted herself off before speaking to her brothers, "Okay, who invited the crazy whack-bag-"

Leonardo swiftly smacked his hand over her mouth and whispered in her ear, "I would not advise saying anything _negative_ about or to him, at all." He then looked up at a questioning Casey with a sheepish smile as he removed his hand, " Casey, this here is our little sister, Kimiko."

"She's tough, she's fast, and she's spunky with a cute look that'll fool anyone!" Mikey said with a toothy grin. " **Anyone**."

Kimiko rolled her eyes and shook her head before giving the human her attention, "So what brings you down here, you obviously didn't come for absolutely nothing I assume."

"Straight to tha point huh?"Casey shrugged as his expression grew serious, " Graffiti, it's everywhere, all over town." The turtles paused for a second while exchanging glances with each other before bellowing in laughter.

"I think I speak for everyone when I say, duh." Mikey said plainly.

"We're New Yorkers, Casey, we've seen graffiti before." Don added.

Then Casey pulled out a photo of a tagged wall, "Nah-uh, not this kind." The image was of four turtles with a sword going through them that sort of resembled the Sword of Tengu, " I think someone's tryin' to send you a message."

Kimiko narrowed her eyes at the image and muttered quietly, "Oh no..." Hun was probably behind this one....He was the one leading the Purple Dragons...

"Bleh! Talk about getting the point..." Mikey commented.

Then Leo spoke," Do all the tags look like this?"

Casey winced slightly in thought, " Some are a little more graphic..." Then came to a realization, "Wait...there's five of ya..all the tags have four turtles..."

Then Mike laughed, " Maybe Kim's just so small that they don't see her!"

"Actually....I've been really busy making weapons and repairs to improve the lair, so much that I'm left dead tired," Kim lied while she put up another false act, looking down and rubbing the back of her head, " But don't worry, I'll be kickin' shell with everyone else before you know it."

Completely ignoring the pink-masked turtle, Casey's eyes landed on the Sword of Tengu that was resting on a pedestal near Don's computer table, "Hey....cool sword! Looks just like the one in the graffiti!" Then the nutjob rushed over to the artifact and reached for it.

Don yelled out to warn him,"Casey, no!" But was too late, Casey touched the sword before it zapped him into a bookshelf across from the computer.

Kimiko mentally laughed to herself as her brothers and father went to help the idiot up, " Should've seen that one coming...." Then she froze, ' _So that's why a glove is needed...but...Saki could hold it without the need for it....the hell is that bastard made of?'_

"I thank you for this information, Mr. Jones," Splinter said, pulling him up, "But now, we must return to our training."

"Wait!" Casey pulled away from Splinter and faced the turtles, "Don't you wanna put the smack down the scum who did this?"

"Well yeah...." Mikey said, looking at the photo, "But it smells way too much like a set up."

"But this is a matter of honor! What about all that Bushi-doo-doo stuff!" Casey yelled out as he took out a bat from his duffel bag.

Kimiko sighed as she watched the eldest turtle correct the nutcase about Bushido, "Such a perfectionist..." she muttered, watching as Casey spotted the TV and forgot about everything else as he went to watch the news. The worst part was that he had absolutely no manners at all...

The youngest turtle shook her head, "Well if you boys don't mind, I'm going back to training." Kim walked to one of the weapon racks and picked up one of the practice bo staves. She twirled the staff between her fingers, shifting it between her hands as she returned to the training matt. Kimiko held the weapon in a more proper posture, with her green hands a bit spaced out from the center.

"So why ya usin' a boring toothepick like that instead of them swords ya got?" Boomed a loud Casey who approached her while stuffing his face with a piece of pizza he found under the couch ( _because he's Casey_ ).

Kimiko thrust the staff forwards, horizontally, in a defensive stance, "I like to make sure I'm able to any weapon that is at my disposal, no matter what it is." She then began to practice some basic swings with the wooden staff. "I may have chosen the swords as my primary weapons, as I am more skilled with them. But that doesn't mean I can't have skill in others. A warrior should be able to adapt to any situation and that includes having knowledge on different weapons. Oh, and Casey?" Then swung the staff at a low level, sweeping Casey off his legs from behind and letting him fall flat on his back before pointing one end of the bo staff near his face, "You may wanna reconsider your thoughts about, what did you call this...oh yeah, a ' _toothepick_ '."

Casey sat up and watched with a wide-eyed stare as the green-haired turtle walk away from him. "Whoa...remind me not to get on her bad side."

Michelangelo bursted in laughter, " I told you she's spunky. I'd say she's almost like a mini Raph..but without the ugly."

That earned him a nice slap in the face by the ' _ugly_ ' Raph, "Shut it."

"Ow...." Whined Mikey as he rubbed his cheek.

Satisfied with the outcome, Kimiko returned to her training without any interruptions.

**\----**

Later that night, after Raphael had taken Casey on patrol and finally giving the other mutants their peace, the five returned to their previous training session.

But, just as Kimiko flipped away from a pole after failing to land a jump kick on Splinter, the poles were once again knocked down by a wild, beaten up Casey Jones. The littlest turtle flailed her arms up and down like some kind of weird bird as she fell,"Why did I have to jump so high?!" Then hit the stone ground, twisting her ankle in the process. Kimmy hissed at the pain as tears were forced out,"Mother of shell!!"

Donatello rushed to examine his sister's injury as the others tended to Casey. He gently placed his finger against the darkening skin on Kimiko's ankle, slowly rubbing around it, "It's definitely swelling, let's get this fixed."

Kim nodded slowly, trying her best to ignore the aching stings, "Right..." then she stopped and looked around the lair, "Wait, where's Raphael?"

As Don carefully lifted her up bridal style and carried her to the couch, Casey started to explain what happened, "Me and Raph was beatin' down some Purple Dragons when some invisible ninja dudes came and kicked our cans! Then they took Raph wit' em'."

As Michelangelo started joking about the ' _invisible ninjas_ ' part, Kimiko almost felt her heart stop. ' _Oh no...no no no no....this can't be happening._ ' Kim turned to speak with Casey as she was put down on the couch longways, "Did you see what these ninja looked like? If they had shown themselves at all."

Jones tried to think of what happened during the ambush, "Only a flash, they was in blue garb, lotta tech on em' too..seemed ta be allied with the Purple Dragons." Then he pulled out an orange device, "This is what they had on em'." He gave it to Donatello as he passed to get his first aid kit.

' _Hun and Stockman must have planned this...lure us turtles with the graffiti and then attack and capture using the Foot Tech ninja..'_

"And they have Raph right now as we speak?" Leonardo questioned with his arms crossed.

"Yeah..." The human muttered lowly.

"Uh, dudes, Raphie's shell cell isn't picking up...I think it broke.." Mikey said in a worried tone, "It's not nice.."

Casey roared in a rage, "Arghh!! It's all my fault!" Then Jones began breaking their furniture out of anger.

After he wrapped an ice pack around Kimiko's injury, Donatello quickly went to his desk, taking out a handheld tracking device, "A dead shell cell is still traceable, Mikey." Then, a dot appeared on the radar, his brown eyes ( _even though you don't actually see their eyes much in 2k3....until Back To The Sewers_ ) widened in surprise, "Actually....there's no need to worry. Raph's already on his way back."

The vigilante fist bumped the air in joy, taking a lamp out in the process, "Yeah!! He's alright!!"

"This guy's bad news, even when there's good news..." Mikey muttered, staring at the other broken pieces of chairs, tables, and electronics with a blank face, "Like, seriously...I ain't cleaning this up."

Then the purple-masked turtle paled as several dots also appeared on the radar, "Uh...Raph's not coming alone..."

"Let me guess," Leo started as he came over to investigate, "The ' _invisible ninjas_ '?"

"If they're following him, then Raph's about to bring home some unwanted house guests unless we don't act fast." Kimiko flipped over the couch, hopping over on her good foot before using one of the toppled bamboo poles to hold herself up.

"We already got one of those." Mikey commented as he eyed Casey.

"Sorry Little Turtle, but you need to stay here." Leonardo scooped her up in his arms and guided her back to the couch, "Until that foot heals, you are staying put."

The female turtle pouted, "Man..." She knew Leo was right, there was no way she could fight the Foot Tech ninja at the moment. Kim's pouty face then turned into a pleading, puppy dog expression, "Would you at least bring me my laptop, please?"

Her brother nodded as he elevated her foot with a couple pillows, "Sure thing."

When Leo hopped up to the second level, Mikey came out of the kitchen with a bowl of corn chips, some salsa, a couple sodas, and some pretzels and set them on the coffee table, which he scooted closer to the couch, "I don't know how long we'll be, so I got you some snacks cuz you'll probably get hungry and you won't be able to move much. So I got you covered, Kimmy." Then he set the TV remote on the arm of the couch that was closest to her head, "Think you need anything else?"

Kimiko couldn't help but smile at her orange-masked brother, "If anything, I need you boys to be careful."

Leo soon came back with Kim's pink computer bag, "Well, can't say we can make any promises on that one." He set it next to her and ruffled her hair, "But we can try."

Kim sighed, watching her brothers and Casey leave through the sewers. Donatello had given them special goggles that could detect body heat that the naked eye couldn't see. Deep down, a pit of guilt had formed within Kimmy, ' _I could've prevented this. If I had just stayed working with the Foot instead of choosing to take time off now_ _, I could have intervened, that way Raph wouldn't be followed like he is now..._ ' The more she thought about it, the more she started to hate her own guts.

For now though, she shook it off, hoping the boys could handle this. As for the time being, she tried to distract herself by designing future enhancements for armor and concepts for weapons.

About an hour and a half later, Kimiko had gotten bored of the laptop. She turned on the GameCube and was currently playing Super Mario Sunshine. She ended up falling asleep after being unable to catch up to Shadow Mario who was paused somewhere on Isle Delfino with Princess Peach over his shoulder....( _because the game doesn't progress if you don't stop him_ )

**\----**

Kim stirred slowly as she felt arms from underneath and lift her up. She opened an eye and spotted the all-too-familiar leafy,green skin, "Leo..?"

"Go back to sleep Little Turtle, I'm just taking you to your room." The eldest turtle said softly, "You just didn't look comfy where you were, with your laptop sitting on your chest and a controller that had most likely fallen on your face as you dozed off...again."

Kimiko whipped her head around the lair as she was carried, "Wait..where is Raph? Is he okay? And what about the invisible ninja?"

"Raph's perfectly fine, Casey went home,thank the lord, and we took care of the threat before it got worse." Leo answered as he jumped to the second floor, "Nothing to worry about."

The green-haired turtle frowned, "If those enemy ninja keep appearing, then that is something to worry about. They were able to capture Raph, almost discovered our home, and on top of that, they destroyed almost an _entire_ sea port with that stupid sword that's sitting out there in the open next to the TVs. You tell me that's not something to be concerned with."

"Sensei's right, you do overthink." Leonardo chuckled as he entered Kim's room with and set her on the bed, "You're not wrong, Little Turtle, it's obvious that these ninja are up to no good. We'll just have take care of things as they come. Alright?"

Kimiko scowled, crossing her arms as she sat up, "That still doesn't put my mind at ease..."

"Then here," Leo reached for her portable CD player along with the case of CDs next to it, "Maybe some music will help you, it usually does, right?" He then pulled her into a warm hug ( _Well...I'd say lukewarm..since you know, they're mutant turtles and are sometimes shown to be able to change body temps when blushing or are mad, so it would make sense if their blood's a bit of a mix of both warm and cold blood...because f**k genetics, this is TMNT_ ), "Everything will work out fine, you'll see."

Kimiko slowly nodded and hugged him back, "Okay...I'll believe you."

"Get some rest now," Leo spoke, pulling away from her and making his way out of her room, "Good night Little Turtle."

"Good night Leo." Kim watched as he left, a weird little feeling started to flutter within her chest. She didn't know if she liked it or not, but shook it off, "Geez...what was up with that??...am I okay?" She groaned and put her headphones on; then pressed play as Metallica started playing.

( _A/N- I'm trying to stick with old games, tech, and most music that came out before 2009, meaning MP3's and a lot of portable tech that we have now, will most likely not show up, not until a lot later that is._ )


	7. 6

It had been about three weeks since the Foot Tech ninja had almost invaded the lair. Nothing big had really happened as of late, aside from the boys and Casey running into Hun at a Purple Dragon hangout. But they managed to escape him thanks to the remote control Don created for the Battle Shell. Other than that, things involving the Foot Clan had been quiet.

It was around ten at night, Donatello had just finished wrapping Kimiko's foot in a tight brace. It was healed but Donnie just wanted to make absolutely sure of it,"Alright, you just need to make sure to keep it compressed. Now, I'd say you'll be able to take this off after about another week."

"Which means I'll be back to kickin' butt soon!" Kim cheered, fist bumping the air.

"Guess that means you can't kick shell in Melee." Mikey snickered from on the couch. He had just finished a random free-for-all round and his star character, Captain Falcon, was flexing on the winner screen.

This irked Kimiko and she jumped out of Don's swivel chair and threw herself on the couch,"Oh no you don't!" She pressed start on one of the wireless controllers,"The **Queen** of Melee isn't going to give her title up that easily!" Kim hovered the courser around the character selection menu until she selected her main fighter and favorite character, Link.

"You? Queen?" Mike snorted a laugh,setting up a three stock match, "Don't even dream, Kimmy." 

_(A/N- Stock Match is where the players have a set amount of lives, typically three. When all three of the lives are lost, that player loses the match.)_

Don simply stared at his youngest siblings as they bickered about who was the better player."Well, a turtle has to have their priorities straight." Then began to examine a crystal he found earlier. He stopped after about five seconds before getting up and making his way to the entertainment area, "And that includes me. Count me in, you two!"

Don plopped down between the two and picked Mewtwo as his fighter. After that, Mikey selected the Random Battlefield option since they really didn't care where they battled. They were sent to the Great Bay, a location from Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask. Kimiko and Michelangelo glared at each other intensely as the in-game announcer started the countdown while Don sat back, a lot more relaxed than his siblings. 

**\--After a bunch of trash talk and throwing barrels and bombs at each other--**

Mikey and Kim stared at the results screen with shocked, speechless expressions as Mewtwo was announced the winner. Link was in second place while Captain Falcon was in last place. 

"Well, now that I have taken the Champion's place." The purple-masked turtle started, looking at the other two who now had their heads down in defeat, "I'm going to bed, goodnight."

Michelangelo groaned, smacking his head against the arm of the couch," I can't believe I lost....." Then after a few minutes of their defeat, he removed the disc and grinned, "He still has a long way to go to reach our master levels...at Mario Party and Mario Kart and Pokemon and.....wait..does Animal Crossing even count?" 

"I am pretty sure Master Splinter's claimed that one." Kim jumped from the couch and speed walked to the kitchen, "I'll go make pizza rolls."

"Oh! Don't forget the other junk foods and the soda!" Mikey grinned while picking out the good multiplayer games for their unofficial game night.

Kimiko came back with pizza rolls, and from a secret snack stash they kept from the others, two bags of Doritos, cool ranch and nacho cheese, a couple sodas, and two packs of Skittles, "Let the games commence!"

Mikey had already chosen for them to play Mario Party on the Nintendo 64, he had already chosen to play as Wario," Ready to ruin our hands?" *****

Kim narrowed her eyes as she set the munchies on the coffee table, "You _had_ to start with this one..." Then grinned happily, "Sign me up Sargent!" She grabbed her controller and selected her character, Luigi.

**\----**

At the end of their gamerfest, consisting of Mario Party 1, 2 ,and 3, Mario Tennis,Diddy Kong Racing, Mario Kart, Pokemon Stadium, and finally, Donkey Kong Country, Mikey had passed out on the couch, hugging the half empty red bag of Doritos. Kimmy on the other hand had cleaned up their mess before heading to her room after downing the last soda. 

Although it was around one in the morning, the short turtle girl didn't feel tired at all. She was used to it, since normally she would be working on Foot related matters or fixing up her hideout at this time. "Perhaps I'll go topside..." She thought to herself. 

Kimmy grinned as it had been weeks since she had gone out to the surface, due to her sprained ankle and all. But she was fine now, aside from the annoying brace. 

Because the main elevator made a loud opening and the entrance into the sewers was locked down for the night, Kimiko decided to use her secret escape route. She checked to ensure that the boys were fast asleep before quietly pulling back the bookshelf in the very back of her room and tracing her finger along the peculiar spiral etched into the cinder block. The narrow doorway appeared next to it on the wall, as if it were magic of some kind...then again, the whole lair was still a mystery...and after seeing the Sword of Tengu, anything is pretty much possible.... 

Kim slipped into the tunnel, she pulled the bookshelf back into place and traced the spiral etching that was on the opposite side of the wall, closing the tunnel off. Through the tunnel, there were small,dimly lit lights that Kim had strung up along the walls, there was also a couple security cameras hung on the ceiling. As she stopped at the elevator, she spotted a bunch of wooden planks she boarded up that led to an unexplored part of the tunnel with yellow caution tape running across a few meters down. Kim sighed as she almost completely forgot about it again, "And I still need to see what's down there.....next time..definitely next time." 

The elevator was hooked up with a few security checks that Kimiko had made. The first required her Foot Clan key card,which was securely in one of her grey arm pouches, she swiped it and a second check came up as the first cleared. The second check was a small slot that opened up next to the card reader. Kimiko withdrew one of her wakizashi, etched on the end of the blade just next to the guard, were the kanji for ' _Chisai'_ meaning ' _Little_ ' and ' _Kame_ ' meaning ' _Turtle_ ' in Japanese. Put them together and you get, ' _Little Turtle_ '~!

Kim slid her blade into the slot, a scanner read the kanji and beeped as it cleared. Lastly, because she's likes to be exactly sure the lair and her hideout was secure, a third check popped up. Part of the cinder block wall opened up to reveal a panel with an indent on it. All Kimmy did was press her small shell into the indent, earning another beeping sound as she gained access to the elevator. She ditched the brace that was around her foot as she didn't need it and left it on her desk in the warehouse. She left the hideout and made sure it was well locked before hitting the roof tops.

**\--Kimiko's POV--**

I hopped from roof to roof, feeling wind brushing against me, letting my short hair fly passed me. I felt better than I had in months, I felt free. Free from everything, stress, annoyances, and especially from the Foot Clan...even if it were for a short while, it was still pleasing to just get away from it all. 

I stopped to catch my breath on top of a rather tall building that overlooked others. Though, it wasn't near as tall, nor as menacing as the Foot HQ. I sighed, knowing that I'll have to eventually come back to working as Kuro Katana. Though, It's not like I haven't been keeping my tabs on Oroku Saki and his minions, but lately, he's been quiet...like, _too quiet_. 

Since I've taken this independent mission, Shredder gets weekly reports from me, of course, they're all faked. My mission was to seek out the ' _turtle creatures'_ as he'd call my brothers. I had told Shredder that I had either spotted them from afar and spied to learn their _'true objectives_ ' or that as soon as I was going to attack them, they were able to get away. The only truth I wrote to Saki was that they were incredibly skilled, that they were at my skill level...okay maybe a bit higher than that but I'm not wrong.

My thoughts are then interrupted as an ear-splitting scream came from one of the allies below. I immediately run into the direction, checking between each building I passed for trouble. Just as I hopped onto the roof of an apartment complex, a black civic stops with a screeching halt.

"Let me go!!" Came a feminine voice from below. 

I peer down to see an ugly, slender, bald gangster come out of the car."Put er' in tha car." He ordered.

That's when two other, bulkier gangsters come out of the apartment. To my surprise, they held a blonde teenage girl, about my age by the looks of it, by the arms as they shoved her forcefully into the car. "You can't do this!! Dad!!"

"Youz belong ta us now, girly. Ya Daddy needed tha money, n' we gets anotha' maid." The slender one said with a smirk that could make even Medusa turn to stone, "You dos what we tells ya n' ya won't get hurt, understood?" The car drove off with just as the girl let out another scream for help.

Just as it did, I of course started following them. Whatever these guys are doing, they will be stopped. I should have intervened right before they went off, but who knows how many humans there were in the apartments alone and I couldn't just reveal myself...that and they were armed with guns, I couldn't just put the girl in more danger....being a mutant turtle is tough sometimes...

I kept up with the car as best as I could before it entered an empty alleyway. I perched myself on a gargoyle on the roof right above as the three goons stepped out. The bald, skinny one had a gun one hand and a cell phone in the other. The moment he flipped the phone open, was when I threw a shuriken at it and knocked it to the ground.

"What tha'!?" As soon as he whipped his head in my direction, my foot connected with his face. He fell back and into an open garbage can butt first. 

I turned to the bulky duo, one had an afro while the other had a mullet. They held out pistols and as they were about to open fire, I slammed down a smoke pellet and slid underneath the car as they were blinded. Knowing that the teenage girl was still inside, she was the main priority. So I crept to the driver's seat and hopped in, locking the doors.

I looked into the mirror spotting the poor kid, her hands were tied together with rope as well as her feet. Her mouth had duck tape over it. My eyes softened as I gave her a sympathetic smile, "Don't worry, I'm getting you to safety."

It was a good thing the keys were in the ignition...As soon as the smoke cleared, I stepped on the gas and sped out of the alley. I took each turn and drove through the other allies that I knew connected to other streets. Knowing that the gangsters probably had the licence plate memorized, I parked the civic a few blocks away from the corner of Eastman and Laird. I got out and opened the girl's side, poor thing's scared to death....I probably helped with that...

I leaned over and held a corner of the duck tape that was over her mouth,"This is going to hurt for a few moments and I am so sorry." The girls nodded and shut her eyes tightly as I ripped the silvery tape off as fast as I could as she yelped from the stinging pain, "Sorry sorry sorry!"

The girl sighed as I used one of my swords to cut the ropes that bound her feet and wrists, "It..it's okay...wait, what are you?"

"I'm...I'm a turtle...a mutant turtle...also a ninja and a teenager." I scratched my head and helped the girl get out of the vehicle, "Yeah that sounds about right...and yes, I am real...and we should probably get away from the car before those thugs come finding it."

The girl nodded rubbing her pinkened wrists,"Good idea...but where?...I'm Star by the way."

Okay, not what I was expecting from helping a human, "Kimiko, Kim for short. As for where...do you have family here in the city?"

Star shook her head slowly,"Even if I did, my good-for-nothing Dad would rat them out to those mobsters...putting them in danger."

That just leaves one place,"Well then, for now, why not come with me? If you don't mind four other turtles like me and a mutant rat that is..."

"I'm not one to judge someone who just saved my life a few minutes ago. Besides, you aren't that bad, for a turtle." 

I knelt down to a manhole cover in the alley we were in,"Alright, but I am going to tell you right now. You absolutely cannot tell a single soul about me, my family, and our home. If we are discovered...I don't want to think of the horror that would come after..." I looked up and into Star's golden-yellow eyes as I lifted the cover," Please promise me that."

"I understand." She said with a sharp nod," I'll admit, I've seen enough movies to know where you're coming from, but yeah, you have my word."

I let Star carefully climb down into the sewers, then went down myself, but not before sliding the manhole cover into place. "So,I don't mean to bring this up, but do you have any idea as to why your father sold you?"

The blonde shook her head as I led her through the tunnels, "No, but I suspect it has to do with my dad's problems...he's a big time gambler, an addict at that, and a drunk. He was most likely in debt with our landlord. He and I didn't exactly see eye to eye...especially after mother cheated on him."

I will never understand why humans do such things..."And he just gave you to the Mob...like that?" I shook my head, "Despicable...well if it makes you better," I placed a hand on her shoulder, "I'm sorry for what happened."

The girl smiled warmly towards me as we neared the lair, "So...how did you come to be exactly?"

"I think it'd be alright to tell you the story..." I placed a finger on my lips as I looked up in thought, "My brothers and I were baby turtles when our rat father found us. My brothers were to be some kid's pets but then came an accident, causing the kid to drop the boys and they were swept away into the sewer drain along with a jar of a peculiar green ooze which is what mutated us into what we are. Splinter, my father, had followed shortly and ended up getting the stuff on him as well. As for me..we're not sure where I came from but we assume a mother turtle had lost my egg during the storm the night before... all sensei remembers was that I had busted out of my egg, I was premature. He wasn't sure if I was going to make it...but thanks to the ooze, I somehow survived. Although, I did suffer a couple side effects, my shell's size being one of them. Master Splinter had taken it upon himself to teach us martial arts when we were all of age. But yeah, about fifteen years later, here we are. "

"Wow..." Star breathed out, a bit speechless, "That, that's incredible..."

I stop at the entrance to the lair and face her with a proud smile, "And prepare for even more amazement." I punched in the the number pin and opened up the lair, "Star, let it be my pleasure to introduce you, to the Lair!" Though, because it's like, three in the morning, everyone was asleep.."I guess you'll get the full tour tomorrow....for now, you're probably just as tired as I am..." Then I froze and faced her, "Hold on...do you have to get up for school?"

"I dropped out, I didn't like it at all..so nah, I'll be fine." Star yawned and stretched her arms, "Also...sleep would be really nice..."

I made sure the main door shut behind us before leading Star to my room, "I have a spare bed you can use in my room. As for clothes, I have a few shirts and skirts, although, I can also ask a friend of mine to come by and help you as well."

The blonde nodded in understanding with another yawn, "I don't think I can thank you enough, Kim, really...you've helped a complete stranger through a rough patch..and you didn't have to.."

I felt a tinge of heat on my cheeks from embarrassment, "It's sorta my job...you don't need to thank me, Star."

Suddenly, we heard a throat being cleared from in front of us, " _Kimiko_." I froze as Master Splinter approached us, a hard gaze set upon Star, "Why have you brought this stranger into our home?"

"This is Star," I introduced her to Sensei, "I went out for a bit, and saved her from a bunch of bad mobsters who bought her from her father. They were going to do bad things to Star and I couldn't stand by and not help." I sighed and looked to Sensei with pleading eyes, "She doesn't have anywhere else to go. Please let her stay Master Splinter."

Splinter's hardened gaze hadn't left Star. He stroked his beard as his hummed in thought, "I sense good in this one."

"Y-you.." I heard my new friend stutter. She had her jaw dropped as she looked at each my father, then at me, "You're...all.." Oh no...don't faint, don't faint, please don't faint, "So COOL!!!"

"Wha-"

"We are?!" A wild Mikey popped up with a huge grin, "Awesome!!" Then he looked back at our sensei, "Can we keep her?!"

I heard Splinter chuckle at my brother's childishness, "She may stay. We welcome you, Miss Star, I trust Kimiko will help you accommodate to our lair."

I immediately bowed at him as he left for his room, "I will Sensei." I sighed in relief, "That went smoother than I thought it would...anyway, Star," I pointed at my brother who had his stupid, oversized smile plastered to his face, "This is Michelangelo, one of my brothers."

"Mikey for short," then he let out a yawn, "And I'm hittin' the hay before Leo's alarm sounds." Then he left.

"He's a special one." I joked quietly, earning a giggle from my friend, "Alright, let's get to bed ourselves..." 

Man...what a night....it's not everyday you find a new roommate..well, at least we're okay...for now.

**\----**

* _When the first Mario Party game came out, it contained mini games that required the player to spin the analog stick. Because of the plastic ridges on the stick, the friction caused by spinning it, often with a person's palm, it resulting in many people getting blisters. This resulted in Nintendo getting sued, and afterwards, they gave out gloves to the victims._


	8. 7

(I was watching through the _Shredder Strikes_ episode and paused at a perfect moment!*pic*)

**\--Mini Bio- Star--**

  
Full Name- Stella "Star" Rosales  
Age- 15  
Birthday- July 23rd  
Appearance- Shoulder length, sunny blond hair, golden eyes, light peach complexion. 

  
**\----**

**\--Kimiko's POV--**

It had been about a week since I had met Star. Of course, I had introduced her to the boys, Casey, and April. She seems to get along pretty well with everyone. Star's strong-willed too, even after what happened that one night, she still manages to stay positive. Master Splinter had recommended that she start learning ninjutsu. That way she'd be able to defend herself. Donatello on the other hand, was giving her a bit of homeschooling, teaching her the basic academics that would help her in life.

**\----**

I sighed heavily as I walked out from my hideout, garbed in my Kuro Katana armor. I wasn't going to delay this any further, it was time I came back to the Foot.   


With Star bunking in my room, it was more difficult to sneak out of the lair. I ended up having to drug her tea with a couple crushed up sleep-aid pills and wait until she was passed out.  


I slowly shook my head from any distracting thoughts as I hopped my way towards the red roofed skyscraper that overlooked the entire city.   


When I arrived at the top floor, Saki was already waiting for me. He stared out one of his windows, as cold and emotionless as always, "Katana. Your reports from your mission suggest that these creatures you had encountered were of extraordinary skill."  


I knelt before him, using my smooth, British voice impression, "That is correct, Master." Ugh..even after all this time, referring to him as ' _Master_ ' still left a horrid taste in my mouth..."As Hun had mentioned to you before, these turtles have no clue of any enemies of yours or even of their existence." Which is probably some kind of cover up, knowing this guy.  


"I see, then perhaps I could use them to my advantage." Oh _shell_ to the no you ain't, you slick bastard...I stood back up as Saki moved to his desk. He pulled out a sheet of paper and started writing something, "Since you seem to be more successful than those other two dolts, you will be the one to deliver the creatures this note." He stood up as he finished writing and rolled the paper into a small tube, "After, I expect you to follow them to the exact location. When they arrive, you are to test them in a spar so I may deem if they are worthy to me, am I clear?"  


I bowed after taking the note, "Hai."  


"If they are to fail, they are to be eliminated." I watched Saki trudge over to the elevator, glaring daggers into his backside. I think my job's gonna end sooner than I thought...with my swords down his throat, "You are dismissed."  


I waited until he left before going down to one of the lower floors myself. Great....now he wants the boys in on this...and I have to fight them...again. But if they don't win this time, they will die if they aren't prepared, which I am very sure they will be.   


I grabbed one of the bows and a couple arrows from the large dojo where the other ninja practice. Then, before leaving, I scanned and copied Saki's note, in case I lose the original somehow. Once outside and far enough from headquarters, I reread the note-

" _Warrior,_

 _If you receive this note, then you have already passed the first test. I call upon you, as a point of honor to meet with me. If you follow the way of Bushido, you will come. And you will come, alone._ "  


On the bottom were instructions to the location. A warehouse at _16 South Boyle_ , it was where Saki recruits his ninja. 

"Master Splinter just doesn't understand how important these swords are to me!!" Came a shouting voice from an all too familiar turtle. Of course....of all mutants...I had to run into him first. I peep down to find Leonardo angrily tearing up some newspaper into paper stars with his katana. What'd the Press ever do to you good sir? Erm..turtle?

I found myself sighing heavily, I can't believe what I'm going to do. I tied the note to an arrow and nocked it into position. Aiming a little over his head, I fired it and watched as Leonardo sliced the arrow like it was nothing. As soon as he picked it up, I high tailed it to the designated location and waited on one of the support beams a bit below the ceiling.  


I breathed out with slightly shaky hands. This is gonna end badly..I just know it. I withdrew my own katana and hopped down as soon as Leonardo entered the building.  


"Alright, you wanted to talk, now talk." He demanded, a hand ready to draw one of his sword.  


I held one of my blades up toward him, "Once you can prove yourself, then you'll get your answers, turtle."

The blue-masked turtle rose a brow, "Your voice...it sorta reminds me-" I darted at him, swinging my swords forward before he could get another word out. Sorry bro, can't have you figuring me out yet. "Well if that's how you're gonna play, fine with me!"   


Leo blocked my katana with his, forming an ' _X_ ' between us. Because I knew that he has more strength than I do, I could tell that Leo was trying to make me fall back by putting more pressure while pushing his weapons against mine. Before I could lose my balance, I thrust my knee up and made contact with his stomach.   


But it seemed that my dear brother was somehow a step ahead and backflipped over my figure. I turned sharp on my heel, raising my arm to block Leo's incoming kick. He landed back on his feet with a little smirk, "You're a quick one, I'll give you that."  


I ignored the comment and threw my swords up in the air. I then started chucking a few handfuls of shuriken at him before catching my katana and sprinting for him once more. But as soon as I was about to clash swords with Leo again, a loud clapping sounded through the building.  


"Impressive." Came the cold tone of Oroku Saki. He stepped out from under the shadows near the wall in the back. "You are as exceptional as the Kuro Katana here had mentioned in her reports. My agent said you were good, but ' _good'_ does not even fit her description." I sheathed my swords before bowing towards Saki and backing away from the two. Of course I stayed close by, in case the bastard tried something.  


"I am Oroku Saki, eighth generation master of ninjutsu." He said with a smirk, "And you are?"  


Fearless sheathed his own swords and introduced himself, "Leonardo."  


Saki paced around him, examining the turtle,"You appearance is...most striking." Ugh, how dare you, I will have you know that Leonardo is flippin' _**fabulous**_ you stupid piece of garbage.  


"It's not a costume. Although that's a little hard to believe." Leo responded, still keeping his guard up.

Pencil-head, ( _Well..that's what Saki looks like, I mean have you seen his pointy head shape?_ ) Chuckled, "Easier to believe than it may seem. I have seen enough of this world to expect the extraordinary. And you, are _extraordinary_. But I did not seek you out to discuss that matter."  


"Then I take it you sent me this note?" Leo questioned, holding out the paper I shot at him with an arrow...I am so thankful that he is a ninja...  


"Yes. It was urgent that we meet." Saki turned to face the blue-clad turtle, "There are things you must know."  


"There are definitely things I need to know." Leo said with a hardened gaze," Like why these ninja, _your_ ninja, have been trying to break out heads for months now."   


The human, I think that's right, nodded sharply, "That is exactly why we needed to meet. We have been facing each other as enemies, when there is an even greater threat amongst us."  


My lips flattened as Saki gave Leo the same exact speech he gave to me the night I joined the Foot. Word for exact word, I might add. The worse part, is that Leo was actually starting to believe him! To top it all off, Saki told him to think about their discussion and to meet back with a direct answer tomorrow night at this exact spot. Then bribed him with an incredibly beautiful sword before sending Leo on his way....hey wait...why didn't I get a special sword like that when I was asked to join?....I did a lot more than Fearless did you know....cheap bastard....  


I watched my brother leave, mentally shaking my head. I know for a fact that Leonardo's better than that. He should know that something isn't right here. "Shall I shadow him, Master?" I asked as I gazed toward one of the windows on the ceiling, spotting three green blurs disappear in Leo's direction. I was somewhat relieved, if anything, Raphael can certainly talk sense into Fearless. At least, I hope he can.

"No." Saki said coldly and began to leave through another exit, "He will come and we will be ready. To see if he is smart enough to accept my offer or perish at my hand."  


I simply bowed towards him as he disappeared into the alley."As you command. I shall prepare myself then. Leonardo may be an easy one to fool, but there are the other three somewhere in this city. They may prove as threats." As soon as Saki was gone, I climbed to the roof to clear my head. "What do I do now?"  


"Give it back Raph!" I whipped my head over to the direction of Leonardo's yelling. I hopped over a couple roofs to find the oldest two fighting over the sword Saki had given him. Gee...a fight between Leo and Raph, _sure_ didn't see that coming. Mikey and Don were on the sidelines, shaking their heads. Then, Leo made another stupid move and kicked the hotheaded one over the edge of the roof. Thankfully, Raph was smart enough to pierce his sigh into the brick before he could fall.  


I put a hand over my chest and breathed out in relief..But seriously, what is with Leo today?! It's like he's losing himself or something..which I certainly hope that's not the case. I looked over to see him help Raphael up, "I am such an idiot...you could've been really hurt..."

"You're right. You _are_ and idiot." Raph smirked as he slid his sai into his belt, "And I don't hurt that easy sword-boy."  


Donatello held up the sword as he walked toward them, "What are we gonna do now, Leo?"  


"What I should have done in the first place: Talk to Master Splinter." Hooray! Leo's not repeating what I did! He's not being stupid! But talking the Master Splinter is only going to lead to one result. Knowing Sensei, they're gonna be told to stay put...which they most likely won't.   


I turned away and made for my hideout. There's no way I can afford to be at the lair right now, not with all that's going to probably happen tomorrow. I paused as two unfamiliar figures pass by through the rooftops across the street from me. One was bald, the other had bluish-black hair in a short ponytail, but the both sported the same outfits- shades, gold pendent, long dark coats and dark clothing underneath. They had a really weird vibe to them, but disappeared in a flash. Strange..I shook my head and continued to my destination, sighed heavily.

_Tomorrow's gonna be one shell of a night._

**\----**

**(A/N- Short chapter, but the next one will be longer ouo)**


	9. 8

Star woke up feeling a cool hand gently shaking her, "Hey Star? Sorry to wake you, dudette." She looked up through the corner of her eye to find the blue-green skinned turtle, Michelangelo with a more gentle smile than usual.

They had just returned from their earlier venture to the surface and had gotten an earful, well, Leo did mainly, from Splinter. He told them of who Oroku Saki really is. Saki, also known mainly as, the Shredder, was the man responsible for the death of Splinter's owner, father, and master, Hamato Yoshi. Which was also a little before he found the turtles. Leonardo had agreed to venture to the surface the next night with his brothers, without Splinter's knowledge, to give Saki his answer, turtle style.

"I fell asleep?" Star slurred as she was still groggy and slowly sat up on the couch, rubbing the sleep out of her eyes, "When?"

The orange-masked turtle scratched the back of his head,"About the same time Kimmy left. Speaking of which, do you know where she went off to? "

Star shook her head with a yawn, "Sorry Mike, but I don't have a clue where she could have gone..the last thing she did was give me some hot tea after I finished some History worksheets Don wanted me to do..then I fell asleep.."

"But that was before we had weapons practice, which Kim skipped, might I add." Leo said as he came over, his eye ridges were knitted together and his arms were crossed, "Which is very odd because Kimiko **never** misses weapons practice. Not at all..."

"I've tried contacting her shell cell," Don added from at his computer, he sighed, "Unfortunately, Kim seems to have left it in the Battle Shell..."

"What do ya think the brat's up ta anyway?" Raph asked while beating up a punching bag. "Maybe she just needed some time ta herself, she is a chick n' all."

"Whatever it is, Kimiko does not seem to want anyone to follow her." Came a wild Splinter as he held up Star's half-empty tea cup and sniffed at it before narrowing his eyes at it, "It would seem she has slipped sleep medicine within your tea, Miss Star."

Star cocked a brow, her mouth opening slightly as she stared at the cup, "She did what? Why would Kimiko do that?"

"Maybe she thought you needed rest?" Mikey mumbled with a shrug.

Leonardo sighed heavily in frustration," This isn't the first time she's done that. When we were younger, she would lace something of ours, be it a simple bowl of soup, or something else that's hot enough to dissolve crushed up sleep medicine. That way she would be able to sneak out to the surface without our knowing."

"That sneaky little...ugh, she probably even knew I'd be able to fall for the trick easier than you all..." Star grit her teeth and huffed, "I blame myself for not knowing her well enough like you all...."

"Don't feel bad, we've all fallen for Kim's tricks at some point, except Sensei. But Kimmy always ends up comin' back in one piece." Mikey reassured before he stifled in light laughter as he got an idea, "You don't think she's got a boyfriend do you-"

"Absolutely not!" Leo thundered as he felt his blood heat slightly. This caused him to get weird looks from the others. He shook his head, " What I mean is that Kim's never been one for romance or any of that stuff." Why was he feeling so worked up over that? Maybe it's the overprotective side of him...cuz he sure didn't know. "Anyway, she's bound to come back soon. Unless she went to April's."

"Well she betta' get back soon, else she's gonna miss the biggest night of her life." Raph noted, "Well, of my life maybe."

**\--The Next Evening--  
\--Kimiko's POV--**

I sneezed while yawning as I got up from an uncomfortable makeshift hammock, made from a big tarp and a torn up couch cushion from the junkyard...ugh...note to self- "Never sleep in your armor again..."

Ever since yesterday evening, I've been staying here at the hideout. I want to make sure that I am absolutely prepared for the storm that's approaching later tonight. I have everything I could possibly need done- sharpened my katana, made a shizz ton of shuriken and some smoke bombs, and practiced my martial arts for a few hours. Now, I just need to make sure I've rested enough to be able to fight...which despite my lack of trying to do so, I feel like I can manage.

To be absolutely sure, I went to my desk and next to it, under TV that was attached to the ceiling, was a mini fridge I made out of a broken down vending machine, again, I found it at the junkyard (It's almost like a Craigslist for Hobos, Geeks, and Mutants..), and took out a Red Bull. I quickly downed the tangy, fizzy beverage as my Foot Clan pager started beeping.

I picked up the small device that resembled the Foot symbol and answered, "Kuro Katana."

"Get to tha warehouse, them turtle freaks are gonna be here soon." Came Saki's personal brute, Hun.

I rolled my eyes, pushy as ever..." Understood." Then I turned the device off and slid it onto my belt before leaving for his location.

As I took to the rooftops, my eyes were glued toward the darkening clouds in the sky. I let out a slightly shaky breath, "Boys...I just hope your ready for the night of your lives..."

When I got to the warehouse, well, a building just before it, I was just in time to see Leonardo jump and wail kick after kick upon Hun until he fell back and through the window, all the way to the floor. I grinned widely as I spotted several Foot ninja lying about, unconscious. Man have I ever been so proud to have them as brothers. The moment was in ruins when a new squad of Foot ninja joined me at the roof I was on. I mentally huff as I signal them to approach the turtles. I guess it's my turn to play now. Joining my squad of ninja, I give the turtles an icy glare before drawing one of my swords.

"You again.." Leo's eyes met with my own as he grit his teeth, "Kuro Katana, right?" I remained silent before snapping my fingers with my free hand, and my Foot ninja launched themselves at the four. Hopefully they can handle a few more...

I charged for Fearless, engaging in another sword battle with him. Hate to be biased here, but because Leo has a little more skill than the other three, it'd be better to go for him. Especially since I'm not trying to kill any of them...

As I sprinted with a single blade drawn, I chuck some shuriken,one by one, at Leo in an attempt to distract him. He ,of course, was able to avoid and hit them. But once I was close enough, I thrust my sword up, colliding with Leo's. I felt a smirk as I took notice that he was using both of his katana while I, on the other hand, only had one of my own out.

With my free hand, I reached for my other katana and withdrew it. But at soon as I was about to swing it from under our little knot of blades, I felt my sword get stuck.

"Oh no ya don't!!" Roared the hotheaded voice of Raphael from behind me. I glance down as his two sai had caught my katana and were holding it down, "That's my brother you're clashin' with missy."

I bit my lip, trying to process a fast plan. I slip my other sword out and sharply turn to bring Raphael towards me. My shell shielded me from Leo's swords while I kick the hothead back towards an incoming Donnie. Then, I whip around to punch a slightly confused Leonardo and ducked to let Mikey barrel into him with a flying kick. I backflip a few meters away to catch my breath and ready myself for another clash between the four.

But....the whole plan changes as a menacing figure hops down in front of me. His spiky, steel armor was like a samurai's. At his wrist, were steel talons that matched his armor. Those belonged to Oroku Saki...So, that's why he's called the _Shredder_?

Shredder thrust his fist in the air,"Those who are not with me, are against me!" He said, his sharp voice echoing through his mask, " **And I will crush anyone, who is against me!** "

As it began to storm heavily, Shredder removed his helmet, revealing the cold face of Oroku Saki. "You see me as I am, for it will be the **last** thing you ever see." He smirked wickedly and placed his helmet back on, "Now you shall face your destiny and your doom." Shredder rose a fist towards the four turtles, "Foot Ninja, destroy them!!"

But I just-! Oh never mind..It's kinda fun to kick their shells...

I charge towards Mikey as he spins his nunchaku at the weaker ninja. With both katana in my hands, I swing them forth as they get tangled in the chains of his weapons. "So, Kuro Katana's your name right?" Oh for the love of shell, _do not try to make light conversation with the enemy_ , Mike! Didn't Splinter ever teach you that?? I grunt and pull my swords down, bringing goofball down with them as my weapons snake free. Then, I flip over and knee him in the back of the shell, "Ow! Rude..."

Actually...that was a stupid move on my part...me being a turtle makes it even more humiliating. Because a turtle's shell is pretty much a huge, very strong, bone, I felt my knee almost crack a bit. I tried to resist the ache as I hopped off and backed away from my brother. As soon as he got up, Shredder surprised him by landing a hard kick in the chest and knocking Mikey into a Leonardo.

Then, from Raph's direction, a sword came whizzing right passed my head and pierced a nearby generator. Which...is not good. I took the chance to leap to a higher roof top before the explosion hit, but in time to spot those unfamiliar men from last night again. They seemed to be spying on our little war, whoever they are. Ugh great...another faction of the city to keep in check? This is too much...

**\--Third Person--  
\--Meanwhile at the Lair--**

Splinter slid open the screen door of his room,"My sons, I have meditated on our situation and-" He paused as he did not see or sense any of his five children. "My sons?"

Star poked her head from the kitchen, a half-eaten slice of pizza in her hand, "They're not home..." she shrugged, "To where, I don't have a clue. The boys left while I was in the shower a few hours ago."

The mutant rat sighed, he was stressed enough with his youngest and only daughter being gone for almost a whole day, "Sometimes even I cannot think with those children running around...."

"Surely they would have left something behind."Star finished her food and went over to Donnie's lab. Sure enough, there was a note with the braniac's handwriting on it. She scanned it before raising a brow, "It says they've gone to face some dude named the Shredder...whoever that is."

She gave Splinter the note to let him read it himself. Then he scratched the top of his head, "What is the one thing I did not want them to do...." then it hit him, " **Face the Shredder?!** " He turned to the elevator but paused again, finding the remote control for the Battle Shell and taking it with him, just in case. " I must find my kin."

"I can try contacting them through shell cell while you're out." The blonde said, sitting down at the computer.

"That would be very helpful, Miss Star." Splinter nodded before leaving the lair in search of his family.


	10. 9

****

**\--Kimiko's POV--**

I panted heavily after avoiding Raphael's sai coming at me at rapid speed after I had hopped back into the brawl. From trying to prevent the Shredder from killing my brothers to the growing fire that's taken over most of this warehouse to those Men in Black wannabes watching over us from afar, it was getting harder to focus on anything. Speaking of which, the weirdos ended up disappearing again, but that doesn't mean they aren't nearby. 

Shredder managed to send Fearless flying toward the edge of the roof. Then, I felt my body move on its own. I slid under a now weaponless Leonardo, preventing him from falling down onto the street. Right as the Shredder trudged on over, I did my hardest to make it look like I was holding the turtle up for Saki to finish him. I was just about to spin Leo around to shield him as Shredder rose his talons when the entire building collapsed from the fire. 

I let my brother go and as if on instinct, he backed away and fell off the edge anyway. Well so much for trying to help you Leo..but conveniently his swords were right where he landed. The rest of the building began to rumble and I leaped to a fire escape across the alley, watching Leonardo recover and make his way to a stairwell that went underground, waiting for some Foot ninja to clear out of the way.

Now was a clear sign that I needed to switch my side in this battle. Why didn't I do so earlier while Shredder was beating them into the cinder block? I wish I knew myself...maybe it would have done more harm than good? I mean, what if we beat him and the other ninja retaliate in hordes afterwards and I couldn't warn anyone? I punched myself hard in the cheek for not only overthinking, again, but for not preparing myself enough for this. 

My trail of negative thoughts end abruptly as Leo runs off stealthily through the street. I take to the roofs once again and tail him, only to find Fearless being cornered in a dead end alley. You just love getting yourself into trouble don't you, Leo? You know...maybe now's my chance to fight back.

But as soon as I was about to join him, one of the weird [Men in Black](https://vignette.wikia.nocookie.net/tmnt/images/5/5f/Tmnt_blog007-05.png/revision/latest?cb=20100130073839) dudes, the one with the ponytail, joins him instead. He is armed with a sword that lights up like the Sword of Tengu, only with the click of a button in the grip, and just starts beating the daylights out of the Foot. And I thought Darth Vader was awesome...

I heard Leonardo speak in awe as the guy finished cleaning up but kept his guard up,"Okay...you're definitely a ninja, but.." 

"I am simply, a Guardian." The man said as he put away his sword, "Beyond that, I can tell you no further." Yeah, that's real helpful pal..."I am sorry, but I cannot tell you everything now. Just know that you are caught up in a battle that is greater than you can imagine." Oh..my **god** , please don't start with that bologna.." That is the only truth the Shredder told you. But by rejecting that evil, you have made an ally this day." So...he's a good guy?

As he and Leonardo shook hands, the sound of a truck screeched by and entered the alley. I duck out of sight as I could hear Donnie getting nagged on by Sensei about his driving. But as I peeped down, the Guardian dude was gone. Is he like a magician of some sort too? 

_Wait…_

**Sensei's** there...?!

Right _now_...?!

In the truck...!?

That's bad...for me at least. But do I run or ....should I stay and come clean? Well, now seems like the best chance I'll get. I take a breath as my heart begins to beat like crazy before jumping down, behind Leonardo. That resulted in me getting kicked to the wall pretty hard...damn Leo... "It's you again...One of Shredder's elites, Kuro Katana.."

"I so deserved that..." I muttered as I rose up slowly, rubbing my side...he might’ve dented my armor a bit...and that was a damn good kick if I ever felt one, "And you're as sharp as ever, no doubt."

"That must mean Shredder's close.." I heard Donatello say rather quietly, "Be careful with that one, Leo!"

I felt myself chuckle,"To be blunt, I have no idea as to where he is. That aside, I'm not here to fight with you. Rather, I came to fight alongside you four."

"Right, and pigs can fly." Leo snapped as he came at me with his swords."How do we know you won't lead us into a trap? Tell me one good reason we should let you help us?"

I sighed while withdrawing one of my own katana and hold it up to block the opposing turtle, "Because," I use my free hand to lift up my mask, " **I've been on your side from the start.** "

And here come the big, dramatic gasps, "Kim..you..I-" For a moment, Leonardo was very confused. "You're with the Foot?"

“Quiet.” I said in a quiet tone as I let out a tired breath. I moved toward to back of the Battle Shell, " I've been keeping an eye on the Foot for the past couple of months since we found the new lair.” I checked our surroundings before opening the doors, “Let's get out of this alley before Shredder finds us unprepared first, I'll talk in the truck."

**\--Third Person--**

The Battle Shell pulled out of the alley, Raphael broke the silence and growled"Okay, ya got your butt in the truck, now start spillin' Kim! You've been with them goons for _how long_ now?!"

"Like I said," Kim took a seat on the floor of the truck as all the seats were taken up, "I joined up with them the night you four and April went to stop Baxter Stockman at Stockronics."

"And it didn't cross your mind to at least talk to us about this? _Not one bit_?" Leo questioned, his voice stern and slightly raised. He was still not quite sure what to make of all this yet. Like his brothers, he felt hurt, but he was more disappointed with her than hurt. 

Kimiko looked down at the floor, guilt starting to form a pit within her, "There were times when I wanted to tell you, when I _should have_. But I felt that if I did, the outcome would have been worse. That something would have happened to you all." She let out a shaky breath as she clenched her fist, her eyes were shut tightly," Saki also mentioned about some enemies that are still out there, and I couldn't just leave knowing something else, possibly more life threatening, possibly worse than Shredder, was out there somewhere...call me overprotective, but I wanted to do everything I could to protect this family...even if it meant risking my honor...and my life..." Kim opened her eyes and looked to everyone in the truck, "And so, with whatever honor I have left...I want to make things right..one way or another..and I will accept any punishment you deem necessary." She shook her head and quickly stood up, somewhat regretting her decision of showing herself, "But you know what, I- We can't just stick around while that monster's on the loose. So I am just gonna go...for now."

Just as she was about to dart out of the truck, a furry arm reached out to her, "Kimiko, you will **stay and help**." The green haired mutant paused and turned to face her father.

"You really want me to stay? After what I've done?" Kim said and looked over at her brothers again, "I was- am the _Kuro Katana_. I've committed crimes, I fought against the boys that night at the museum for the Sword of Tengu, and later that same night on the pier..I left them in serious danger when I should have gone to help them. And then last night,"Her eyes landed on Leo,"I gave Leonardo the note to meet at Shredder's warehouse when I didn't have to. Which led to where we are right now.....and then earlier...I almost let Shredder do the one thing I tried to prevent..." Then her focus went to the floor, "I know I said I would fight along with you all...but even after-"

 _ **'SMACK!'**_ "Enough!" Splinter boomed after slapping Kimiko, silencing her. The old rat sighed heavily, "Kimiko, you have forged yourself down a path of darkness, but that does not mean you cannot get yourself out of it. Your devotion and loyalty to your family is strong, my girl. You are strong both physically and mentally. Use that strength to overcome your battles, instead of fueling yourself with self hatred and grief. Just as water always finds a way to pass even the largest mountain."

"Master Splinter...I..." Kimiko took a moment to register his words, but before she could speak, the Foot Clan pager on her belt beeped. She held a finger to her lips, keeping her brothers silent while she picked it up.

“Kuro Katana.” Came the menacing voice of the Shredder. “I expect you to find those turtles. When you do, report to me at once. I want to destroy them, _personally_.”

Kim spoke sharply in her smooth British accent, “ Understood.” Then she hung up and sighed heavily.

As she did, Michelangelo snorted, “Kuro Katana? That sounds like something off of a bad superhero movie!”

“Yeah...I know…..I had to come up with something on the spot when I met the guy...” Kim responded.

“So what’s your plan for that, Kimiko?” Leo inquired.

The short turtle sighed once again, “Let me think….I’m not about to let Shredder do anything to you guys..”

“Your brothers have already stirred the hornet’s nest, Shredder will not rest until we have been destroyed.” Splinter started, having a plan in mind, “ _Let him find us_ , I have long wished to avenge my Master Yoshi, now is the time.”

Donatello scratched his chin, registering Splinter’s plan, “Are you sure about this, Sensei? How are we going to let him find us?”

“We will _sit still_.” Was all the rat said.

"I dunno Master Splinter...sitting still isn't exactly in our forte.." Mike blurted out before receiving glares from his family. He paled, "Uh..right, sitting still! I like sitting still! Sitting still is good!"

Kimiko shook her head at the doof, “It sounds like a plan, sensei." Then she looked at Splinter with a hand risen, “Allow me to lure him to our location. It’ll make this go by faster.”

Leonardo crossed his arms with a risen eye ridge,"And how exactly are you going to get the Shredder over here?"

"The Way of Invisibility doesn't only apply to one's _keen_ senses. If you know what you're doing, it's easy to fool and manipulate one's mind." Kim smirked again as she thought back, "Like how I played clueless when I questioned the Sword of Tengu, even though I led that mission for the Foot after spending countless hours searching for it. Though, I am happy it's not in the wrong hands." The female turtle chuckled, "Anyway, one thing for certain, is that the Foot don't know I'm a turtle, they don't know that I'm Kuro Katana. And I plan to keep it that way. As to your question, Fearless," Her smirk then turned into a faint smile, “You just leave that to me, I’ve done enough to you all as it is, so at least let me do this.”

"Ya sure that’s is gonna work, Kimmy?" Raph asked.

"I’ve worked with the Shredder long enough to know that he’s not exactly the brightest crayon in the box. He will believe nearly anything that appeals to his own desires. So yes, I’m very sure I can make this work.” She opened the back doors of the truck, “Well, I’m off.” Then she sprinted out of the truck and disappeared into an alley.

Splinter watched as his daughter's presence disappeared, "Be careful, my girl." Then looked to his sons, "Let us make haste to the roof. Swiftly."

**\--Kimiko's POV--**

The first thing I did was get to the hideout. There, I changed out of my armor and into my everyday gear with the weapons I started with, twin wakizashi. Kuro Katana isn’t going to reveal identity to the Shredder...not just yet. Besides, I think it’s more fitting to fight alongside my family as the ninja I’m supposed to be...if that makes any sense…

Then I went straight back to the roof tops. As I ran, thunder rung loudly, the storm still had yet to pass, for now. Drawing closer and closer to the ruined warehouse, I scanned the perimeter in hopes of stirring the beast out. Alright, where are you, ya walking toaster…

I managed to spot the guy down an alley some blocks away from where the guys were. From a weapon pouch, I reached for a smoke pellet as I drew closer. I then dropped down in front of him with a cheeky smirk, “Well, who do we have here?”

“Another turtle creature..I have had enough with you freaks!” Shredder growled before making a wild charge toward me.

“Well gee...grumpy much?” I backflipped out of the way of his talons before dropping the smoke pellet and making a break for the guys. They shouldn’t be too far from the alley they were at last time. I looked back as the Shredder began to chase me along with his Foot ninja, so I stuck my tongue at him and wall kicked myself onto the rooftops. Once far enough from them, I threw down another pellet to make myself disappear from the Foot. I soon found my way back to where the boys and Splinter were. They were at a rooftop that had a small water tower on it. So this is where it all ends..well, for Shredder at least. “He’ll be here shortly..”

**\--Third Person--**

As if on cue, the Foot ninja appeared from below, and with them, was the Shredder. The five turtles and their master stared down their opponents as nothing but the sound of the ongoing storm was heard.

“Let the butt kickin’ **begin**.” Raphael said as he balled his fist.

Shredder thrust his fist in the air, “Foot ninja, attack!” and then the opposing sides charged at each other. The Foot soldiers however, weren’t posing a threat at all, even for Michelangelo, who had his ankle wrapped in a makeshift bandage. The real threat of course, was the Shredder, who was able to send Donatello flying into a wall in one strike, managing to make a dent in the concrete as he made impact. Raphael had been busy with a few Foot ninja and right after he beat them to the ground, Shredder came from behind and punched the turtle into the very same wall next to Don.

Kimiko stood still as Foot ninja came in her direction, all she did was yawn, “You guys are pathetic...” Then she flipped forward and kicked one of them in the back with her heel and hit another in the face with her other foot. As she landed, Kim swung a leg around, tripping the enemy ninja that surrounded her. She couldn’t help but laugh as she brought them down, “And you call yourselves _ninja_? Oh please.” She smirked as she stood up, dusting herself off, “I’ve seen flies put up more of a fight than that.” Kim placed a hand on one of her swords, “Now if you’ll excuse me.” She turned on her heel to find another group of ninja coming at her, “You guys must be desperate to get your butt’s whooped, thankfully I can fix that right up for ya~!”

  


“Kimiko, **focus**!” Master Splinter shouted as he observed the battle from on top of the water tower. He was watching and waiting for the perfect moment to strike Oroku Saki.

The youngest turtle shrugged as she pulled her fist back to wail another ninja in the face, “I am focusing Master.” Then she swung her wakizashi, breaking another ninja’s bo staff in half before landing a blow in his sensitive area. A giggle escaped her lips, “But really Sensei, you don’t have to be serious at all to take on these clowns.” That remark caused the old rat to heavily sigh and shake his head.

“You are seriously crazy, Kimmy!” Michelangelo yelled as he kicked some ninja away from him. As the orange-masked turtle did, he winced as he had used his bad foot, “Ow ow ow!” He heard more footsteps and turned on his good limb, smacking ninja with his nunchucks. Despite his injury, Mikey was doing pretty well. But that came to an end when Shredder came and gave him the same treatment he gave his other two brothers. The sea-green turtle rubbed his head after sliding down from making a third dent in the wall, “Owww….”

Kimiko soon had her back to Leonardo’s, “Man this guy’s just playing dirty with us..”

“Tell me about,” Fearless responded, his eyes darting all around the rooftop they were on, keeping his guard up. He didn’t want to admit it, but he could feel himself beginning to wear down from all the fighting he had done in this one night. “It’s like Shredder attacks when we’re at a vulnerable point.”

The two found themselves caught in the middle of a ring of Foot soldiers. Kimiko began to feel a bit bored with her usual punching and kicking routine, so she hatched an idea, “Leo, _Ninja Spin Cycle_!”

The eldest turtle nodded sharply and they sheathed their swords for a short while. Then he grabbed Kimiko's arms before spinning her around in the air as she kicked the enemies away. Leonardo let go of her and she flung off to land a blow to another ninja who was farther away.

Kim grinned as she quickly stood up, _‘That was totally worth it!’_ she thought to herself, But once she turned around toward her brother, she witnessed Shredder attack him from behind, “Leo!!” He ended up joining the other three on Saki’s apparent, trophy wall.

Shredder chuckled darkly as he faced her, his talons ready, “And then there was _**one**_.”

Kimiko narrowed her eyes, drawing both of her wakizashi, “So you’re this Shredder guy I’ve heard so much about.” She smirked again as she held up a crushed pager, “I happened to run into your so called, _‘Elite_ ’, on the way here.” She snickered, “Let’s just say we had a pretty pleasant conversation. If you catch my drift.”

Both Shredder and Kimiko stared each other down as the rain began to get heavier. Right as a flash of lightning came, Saki charged for the turtle. Shredder roared a battle cry as he thrust his fist forward. Kim swung one of her swords up to catch his talons, “ _Tch tch tch_ , you’re gonna have to be faster than that if you aim to take me on, spiky pants.” The armored man growled in frustration as he applied force to his fist, causing Kimiko to lean back a little. Then he aimed his other fist for her face. Right before he made impact, Kimiko laughed and used the opportunity to slide right under him. She got right up and continued to annoy him, “Oh I see you’ve got a bit of a temper on ya, huh? You know, if you really were the ninjutsu master you _claim_ to be, you’d know that lashing out in anger and hatred is only going to be bad on your part.”

Kimiko grinned as she heard Shredder get even angrier, a plan she had in her head was working. He came at her once again, “I’ve had enough with you freaks!!”

As Shredder tried to hit her over and over again, Kimiko continued to either block with her swords and back away, causing him to miss, enraging her foe even more. “ If there’s one thing I know, too much anger can cause one to become blind of their own actions.” Kim reached her limit and was now on standing on the edge of the roof they were on.“More importantly, it’ll lead to one’s downfall.” Saki then thrust his fist from under, the turtle's smirk widened as she leaped forward, “ **Like so**!” She made a flip and landed her heel on his back, causing the Shredder to fall forward and off of the edge.

Kimiko jumped away from the edge before sheathing her wakizashi and dusting of her hands. She glanced up at the cloudy sky as the rain had dissipated before grinning pridefully, “And **that** is how the cookie crumbles kids.” The turtle then rested her hands on her knees as she began to pant heavily, “Man, talk about a workout….”

She turned around to check on her brothers, suddenly, she felt a presence quickly approach her. As soon as Kim spun back around, she was attacked by a surprise Shredder. The force of his fist colliding with her body was strong enough to send Kimiko hurling to the same wall her brothers were. She hit her head pretty hard against the concrete before falling onto her plastron.

“Kimmy!” Donatello cried as he and Raphael crawled to check on her. “Are you alright!?”

The youngest of the the five slowly rose up, just as Shredder walked over to the weakened turtles. She shook her head while struggling to get back up, “I’m not-...gonna go down that easily..you stupid walking trash compactor...” But her injury caused her to start feeling dizzy and lightheaded, so Kimmy ended up falling back down,.

Shredder rose his talons in the air before speaking in his cold, sinister voice, “ **None of you will leave here alive**!!”

Right as he brought his weapon down, Master Splinter intervened, “No!!” and blocked the talons with his walking stick. The mutant rat glared into Oroku Saki’s piercing red eyes, “You destroyed my family once, I will not let that happen again!”

Shredder growled, “No man or freak can ever defeat me!!”

“That remains to be seen!”

As they fought, Splinter ultimately lured the Shredder to the water tower. The rat dodged ever one of Saki’s attacks. Splinter’s tactics however, was going according to plan. As he evaded Shredder’s talons, they would cut through the wooden supports that was holding the tower above them instead. It was already too late when the Shredder realized what he was doing. Splinter stared back at his foe as he backed out from under the water tower, “ _ **This is for my Master Yoshi!**_ ” Then the rat leaped in the air and kicked to break one of the now loose supports.

The turtles over on the sidelines climbed up the wall behind them to get out of the way as the Shredder tried to make a run for it. But his escape was inevitable as he and his fallen Foot soldiers were washed away by the flood that came from the falling water tower. In the end, Shredder found himself on the cold ground. By the time he stood up, he was met with the wooden tower falling on top and crushing him.

Back on the roof, Splinter stared down at the aftermath as his sons and daughter came over to him. “Master Splinter?” Leo began as his father was silent.

“You okay?” Mikey asked.

The rat sighed, “ _Come_. We have avenged my Master Yoshi.” He started walking in the opposite direction, “Let us, go _home_.”

“I’m all for that,” Donatello commented as Raphael cheered at the thought of finally going home.

Leonardo sighed in relief, “I gotta tell you, home never sounded so good.” As Kimiko began to follow her family, she paused for second and stared down where the Shredder now lied. A feeling of suspicion growing on her mind. The turtle in blue rose a brow at her, “Kimmy? You coming?”

Kim snapped out of her thoughts and caught up to him, “Sorry...I...I just thought I saw something..probably a hallucination from hitting my head, you know how that is...” She started walking again. She was quiet until they got to the lair before breaking the silence, “ Okay, I need to apologize to you all….” Kimiko rubbed the back of her head, “For keeping my actions a secret until now...I really should have told you guys sooner.”

“Hey, it all led to Shredder’s defeat, didn’t it?” Don stated rather simply.

“Well yeah...but,” Kim stared down at the ground, “I-”

Raphael put an arm around his sister’s shoulder, “But nothin’! Ya gotta take risks sometimes ya know? Besides, think of how much safer tha city's gonna be now that Shredder's outta tha way.”

“Yes, I know that now,” The youngest turtle looked up as she thought out loud, “You know, _if you think about it, sometimes, doing the wrong thing can lead to something good._ ”

There was a moment of silence before Michelangelo snorted in laughter, “That was _so cheesy_!!”

A tic mark appeared on Kim’s head as she balled a fist, “But if there’s anything I enjoyed as Kuro Katana, it was getting to kick Mikey’s sorry shell!” Then she pounced on the orange-masked turtle as he let out one of his famous girlish screams while the guys in the back laughed. It was good to be home at last!

* * *


	11. 10

****

**\--Kimiko's POV--**

It had been about two months since we defeated the Shredder. The usual amount of crime that tends to happen here in the Big Apple really seems to have dwindled down some. Just as Raph said it would. But still...I have to wonder what the Foot Clan has been up to, they’ve been quiet and that’s something that concerns me a bit...

I was currently putting some repairs to my Kuro Katana armor at my hideout, it had damaged pretty badly...Leonardo actually did manage to leave a pretty good dent in it that night. I’ve haven’t really been to the Foot Headquarters because...well, Shredder is gone, simply put. He was the main reason I stayed there and now that he’s out of the way, I don’t ever have to go back there..at least I hope.

Although...one thing I am a little worried about are those Guardian guys that showed up during the battle. They seemed like they were good people, but after one of them spoke with Leo, they completely disappeared. It leaves me wondering if they’re really what they seem. It was clear that they disliked the Shredder, but that doesn’t necessarily mean they’re a friendly faction either.

You know now that I think about it, I never did find out who Oroku Saki’s main enemy was. It could be the Guardian dudes but what if it isn’t and it happens to be something worse?

I groan loudly and slam my face on my desk, “Why is New York so complicated!?” As if on cue, Avril Lavigne’s latest hit song, ‘ _Complicated_ ’, came on the radio. “Really now?” I let out a sigh as I wrap up my work for the time being, “I guess I’ll just have to deal with things as they come...” I press a button under the desk to bring the elevator up, “The boys should be back from patrol by now.”

  
**\--Third Person--**

After Kimiko left the elevator and entered her and Star’s room, she closed off the passage. The turtle was thankful that Star, nor anyone else was there at the moment. They still had no knowledge of Kim’s secret escape, though she contemplated on whether to reveal it or not. She shrugged at the thought after pushing her bookshelf back into place.‘I’ll have to show them eventually...I still have that other section to explore as well….I really should stop procrastinating and get to it...’ Kimiko shook her head and walked to the TV area where Star was. She powered on the GameCube and inserted a pink colored memory card into the system. The system was only connected to one TV so that others could watch or play their own games. Kimiko started to play Animal Crossing. It was a game that didn’t have much story and no actual ending, but was very peaceful and just all around a great game. ( _A/N – Totally not advertising it lol, still, Animal Crossing is awesome~_ )

Over at the TV Monolith, there was a news broadcast on channel six. Star was watching intently as a super hero was seen putting out a massive fire and saving many lives in the process. He was the famous [Silver Sentry](https://vignette.wikia.nocookie.net/tmnt/images/f/f3/TMNT_Silver_Sentry.jpg/revision/latest?cb=20100912175231&path-prefix=de)*, a man of very few weaknesses. The blonde had a big grin on her face, “He is awesome!” She glanced around the area to find her fellow comic geek missing, “Man...Mikey is missing out.” Star giggled to herself, “If he were here now, he’d be the one gushing over her favorite super hero.” She then checked her cell phone before hopping off the couch and putting on a navy blue hoodie. “Hey Kim! I’m heading to April’s place now!”

“Alright, just make sure to take the sewers, it’s faster and much safer.” The pink-masked turtle said as her villager on the game was running from angry bees after shaking the trees for money, “And if anyone tries to give you trouble, bash their faces in with your Nokia.”

Star snickered at Kim’s simple sounding words, “Got it!” Then left the lair, April had given her a job at her new antique shop called _“The 2 nd Time Around”_ and tonight she was going to learn the simple basics. As she walked through the sewer tunnels, her golden eyes beamed as she heard three familiar voices. From the other end, came the boys, “Hey you guys, how was patrol?”

“It was a little boring,” Leonardo started, shrugging before a grin made its way to his lips, “Until the very end.”

“It was Silver Sentry!” Raphael shouted happily, “Ya shoulda’ seem him, he was savin’ the day n’ everything. It was cool!”

The teenage human let out another laugh, “I know, I saw him on the news.” Then she grew silent as the goofball of the team passed them, a lot quieter than he normally was, “Mikey?” As she called his name, he didn’t respond. She stepped in front of the blue-green turtle and waved a hand in his face, “ Michelangelo, hey, yoohoo?”

Michelangelo snapped out of his current thoughts as he finally noticed Star, “Wha!?- Oh, Star, hi, I’m sorry, I was just thinking of an idea I had.” He rubbed the back of his head, “I’ll have to show you when you get back.” His brothers shook their heads as the continued into their home.

Star tilted her head as she watched them go, then turned her attention back to her friend, “Are you sure you’re okay there Mike? You’re usually the loud one of the bunch.”

The turtle waved a hand in the air with a soft smile, “Really, Star, I’m fine. You should get going now, don’t wanna be late to April’s.” Then Mikey had gone straight to his room instead of plopping on the couch to play his usual video games.

Star scratched her chin as she watched him, “Okay, something is definitely off about the guy...” She shook her head and started to walk down the tunnel again, “Hope he’s okay.”

**\-----**

As the day in Animal Crossing began to end and all of the villagers were going to sleep, Kimiko saved the game before switching to Super Smash Bros Melee. She had gotten bored with nothing to really to on the game, so she erased her save data to start all over again. As usual, Kimiko was able to unlock the easiest character first, Jigglypuff from Pokemon. She grinned at the puffy, pink, big blue-eyed Pokemon, “Look at you, all innocent and cute..” Then she snickered with a smirk, “Until provoked.”

“Like you?” Came the calm voice of Leonardo who leaned over to watch her game. At that point, Jigglypuff had one-shot Bowser to oblivion with her Rest attack, “Well I can sort of see a resemblance.”

“The ol’ cute but deadly tactic.” Kimiko looked up to the fearless leader with a cheeky wink, “It’s my specialty.”

“Boy do I know that all too well…” Leo said with a light chuckle.

The younger turtle let out a satisfied snicker as she leaned forward and turned the game off. She stood up and started toward the orange mat that was just passed the couch, “Come on, it’s almost time for training.”

When their training started, each of the turtles sat cross-legged at one edge of the mat, facing away from each other. Splinter had turned the lights of the lair off and the only lighting they had came from some candles. The mutant rat began with a small lecture,“The two greatest weapons at the ninja’s disposal are- **Placement** and **Surprise**. Tonight, we perfect a move that utilizes both.” He turned to his eldest son, “Leonardo, Invisible Flying Dragon!”

Leonardo stood up and did a quick bow before leaping over Splinter while performing a kick mid air. He then landed on the opposite side of the mat before bowing once more. The other turtles did the exact same thing when Splinter called upon them, until he got to Michelangelo. The orange-masked turtle was so busy scribbling something down in a book, he didn’t even hear Splinter call his name.

“Michelangelo!” Mikey was rewarded with a good whack on the shoulder. “What are you doing, my son?”

The turtle quickly stood up, revealing a sketch book in his hand. He quickly hid it behind his back, “Um..nothing!”

“Oh yeah?” Raphael snickered as he swiped the book from his younger brother, “Then what’s _this_?”

“Hey! Give it back!” Mikey whined as his brothers played Keep Away with the book.

Leonardo caught the book and flipped through it, “Hey check it out,” He snorted in laughter as he viewed Mikey’s drawings. There were four turtles in super hero costumes, each were easily identified by their weapons.

Rapheal snickered again as he, Kimiko, and Donatello looked over Leo’s shoulder, “What is that? The _Ninjustice League_?”

“More like the _Shelltastic Four_!” Don joked, adding to the flames.

“ **The Legion of Sewer Heroes!** ” After that, the they, minus Kim, burst in laughter.

The youngest grunted in annoyance before snatching the book, “Guys! That’s not cool-”She froze as she was staring at a poorly drawn but clear picture of Kuro Katana, “Mikey, why is _that_ there?”

“Well you know, you’re kind of like a super hero with that awesome costume you had.” Mikey said while taking his book back.

Kim sighed, “ Michelangelo…..I am sorry to get your hopes up, but I’m anything but a super hero and Kuro Katana doesn’t even **exist** anymore.”

“….But you’re still here aren’t you?” The orange-masked questioned.

“That’s not my point..”

“Mikey, you aren’t serious about this super hero thing, are you?” Leonardo said as he calmed himself down.

The blue-green turtle nodded, “Why not, super heroes never have to hold anything back or hide in the shadows where no one can see them. I mean, wouldn’t it be a little nice to get the credit we deserve for all the good we do?”

“Your intentions are noble Michelangelo.” Splinter began giving his daily wisdom, “ But you must never forget who you are. You are **ninja** , you operate in the shadows.”

Michelangelo held his arms out as he tried to express his opinion, “But can’t we accomplish so much more out in the open?”

“There are many paths, my son. You must choose the one that is true to yourself.” Then the rat paced back to the training mat, “Now let us return to your training.”

As Mikey watched his father walk away, he looked at his book before shaking his head and darting for the elevator. “Sorry Sensei, but I need to get out an clear my head for a bit...”

**\----**

Over at April’s store, Star was adjusting quickly to her new job. She found working the cash register to be pretty fun. As she and April finished up for the night, the back door opened and a wild Michelangelo came inside. Although from the looks of it, he wasn’t really having the best day.

“Mikey,” April greeted him warmly with a light smile, “What brings you here?”

“I am in need of a super cool costume.” He rubbed a reddening cheek as he spoke, “I wanna get the super hero appeal so that I can stop crime without having to keep hiding in the shadows….and so that crazy ladies can stop smacking me upside the head with their purses every time I try to help them..” Mikey handed his sketch book to April, “So basically, if you want to act like a super hero, you gotta look like a super hero.”

There was a moment of silence as April and Star flipped through the pages of the few designs Mikey had drawn up. The turtle himself was beginning to feel discouraged, “It’s pretty lame isn’t it?”

“No not at all!” April responded, she looked up from the book, “I think you should follow your dream.”

Mikey’s second of doubt turned to a positive feeling,“Really? You think so?”

“She’s right,” Star added examining his figure as she tucked a strand of hair behind her ear, “We just have to find the right look for you.”

April pointed him to a few boxes of costumes which he tried on, one was a clunky set of knight’s armor, another made him look more like a mugger that a hero. “You need to find something that’s more...well, ‘ _you_ ’, Mike.” Star suggested as Michelangelo was digging through another box behind a screen.

“I know, I know, but- Wait a minute! I think I got it!” He shouted, a massive grin present on his face. A moment later, he came out from behind the screen with a red, hooded cape, a shield in the shape of a turtle's shell, a single brown glove, and a matching pair of boots. On his chest, was a black, circular symbol with two red T’s. “Introducing, **Turtle Titan**!!”

“See? That’s what I’m talkin’ about!” Star cheered happily, “Now you have the look of a super hero!” ‘ _Although, now that I think about it, he’s always had it..._ ’ She thought to herself, a light fuzzy feeling forming in her.

She was snapped out of her trance as the front door chimed, “See ya! I’m off on my first official patrol!!” Mikey shouted, running out of the store.

After Michelangelo left, April snickered toward the younger female, “I saw that.”

“S-saw what??” Star stuttered as she felt her cheeks warm up. She whipped herself around, facing away from April, “It was nothing, I swear!”

This caused the redhead to chuckle, “Whatever you say.” Then handed a white envelope filled with some money to her friend, “This is for you, Star. You did great today.”

Star took the envelope and slipped it into her pocket, “Thanks April.” She checked the clock before speaking again, “ I’m hitting the grocery store while I can before I get home...those four boys sure know how to go through food..”

“I can only imagine.” April rolled her eyes as she scoffed, “Anyway, you be careful getting home now.”

“I will!” Star waved before leaving the store.

* * *

*Silver Sentry is pretty much a reference to Superman and the Justice Force is also a reference the the Justice League in TMNT 2003. I also think there are some Marvel references in there as well.

If you like this story, give it a heart or comment and maybe follow for more updates~! As always, thank you for reading~!


	12. 11

Kimiko held her swords out, forming some kind of ‘ _T_ ’ shape with her arms. She slowly began to swing her arms around, the edges of her blades seemed to look like they were spinning, like a hurricane or a tornado. As she moved toward a practice dummy, she upped her speed before leaping. As she was in mid air, Kimiko spun around like a corkscrew, bringing her swords with her and slicing the head off of the cotton filled dummy. The turtle backed away to view the result of the move she had been trying to perfect. A satisfied smile appeared as pride filled her head. Although she began to wobble from the dizziness after trying the move several times before, “Okay...this isn’t something I should use all the time...”

On the side, Raph was clapping at the result, “So, what would ya call this one?”

“Well, Ninja Spin Cycle’s already taken..” Kimiko sat down to stop feeling dizzy before lying down on the mat, “I-I’ll think of one when my head stops spinning….”

Raphael looked up from the training area, Leo was meditating, Donnie was busy looking at some odd crystals he found, yet, his youngest brother and their house mate seemed to be no where in sight. “I guess Star decided to stay the night at April’s..as fer Mikey, he’s probably still on about that whole super hero thing...”

Over at the mountain of TVs, Channel Six News interrupted the current show for an urgent news broadcast. There were talks of people seeming to go crazy without explanation. One person just stood in the middle of heavy traffic, another was robbing his own store. Raph sighed, it was typical crime on the news, “Sheesh...what is with people today..? You listenin’ ta this Kim?” The only response he got was the sound of faint snoring, causing him to roll his eyes, “Nice.”

**\------**

Out on the surface, Star was still on her way to the nearest grocery store. She boarded a bus to take her, thinking that it may have been safer due to the fact that it was night time. Ever since Kimiko saved her, Star had become rather weary when it came to traveling the city at dark hours. Strangely, she was the only one on the bus, usually the buses would be filled at night.

The moment Star took a seat near the back was when the bus driver floored it. “Hey!! Slow down will ya!” The driver didn’t respond at all as he hit car after car as he was going straight for a bank. “Okay pal, listen here!” Star stood up and used the poles in the bus to make her way to the mad man. “You hurting people, and you’re about to get yourself killed. Whatever you’re doing, it needs to **stop**!!”

It was as if the man was under a trance, nothing Star said got through to him. She was about to contact the turtles with her phone, but, as if on cue, Michelangelo came bursting through the doors! Star felt her heart skip a beat, “Mike- I mean, it’s _Turtle Titan_!”

Turtle Titan shoved the driver’s arms aside as he took the wheel and steered away from the incoming building, “Sorry pal, you won’t be breaking the bank tonight!” As they were now headed for a loading dock near the bridge, Mikey put his foot on the brake...only to find out there was no brake, “Did you cut the brake?!”The driver shoved him aside and took back the wheel, continuing to drive straight, “Dude, have you lost it!?”

Star caught up to the seat right behind the driver, she gasped and pointed at his neck, “Hey, what’s that?”

Turtle Titan quickly got back up and came to check it out. On the back of the driver’s neck, was a small, magenta robotic bug. “I’ve seen one of those before, they seem to be connected with the other dudes. Like, mind control.” He then pried the bug off and the bus driver regained his focus, “You’re safe now, citizen!” He said, sticking the small bug on one of the poles, disabling it.

“No I’m not!” The man shouted as he ran out of the crazy bus.

“We should get out too!” Star said, reaching for the exit, but at the speed the bus was going, it almost felt like she was going to fly off in the opposite direction.

Turtle Titan nodded, “Right,” As if on instinct, he grabbed his friend’s arm and pulled her into him, “Hang on tight and don’t let go!”

“Oh, I’m not planning to anytime soon..”

Turtle Titan hopped out of the bus with the girl in his arms, but the doors shut tightly on the ends of his cape, “Oh no no no, not cool!!” The two shut their eyes tightly as the bus flew off the dock. They opened them shortly after the vehicle didn’t land in the water.

“Um...I don’t think public buses are supposed to defy gravity like this...” Star commented, right when the bus started flying toward land, “Nor should they be able to fly...unless Ms. Frizzle is somehow controlling this thing...”

“A-are you okay at least?” Turtle Titan asked, looking around for any clue what was going on.

Star nodded slowly as a faint blush found its way to her cheeks, “I-I am...thanks to my hero, Turtle Titan.”

“Sweet! My first successful rescue!” The bus landed, revealing that they weren’t going crazy. But lucky to find out that they were saved by none other than Silver Sentry! Mikey let his friend go while he yanked his cape out from the doors.

Star’s eyes sparkled at the sight of one of her favorite Justice Force members, “Woah...y-you’re-”

Turtle Titan stuttered in awe as he finished her sentence,“Him! Central Survey- Server Sundrie-”

“ _Silver Sentry_.” The hero said with his hands on his waist, “And you are?”

“Michel- I mean, _Turtle Titan_.” Mikey said, trying his best to impress Silver Sentry, “I’m a super hero, just like you- Well, obviously not like you- I-I mean, I’ve always admired your work-”

“And I’m Star.” The blonde added as she stepped aside from the turtle, “Believe him, he really is a hero.”

Sentry examined the terrapin hero, “Uh huh...first night on the job, eh?”

Mikey smiled sheepishly from the embarrassment, “ Is it that obvious?”

“Listen, um, Turtle Titan was it?” Silver Sentry started to lecture the turtle, “I admire your good intentions, but this is a dangerous occupation. If you’re not paying attention, someone is going to get hurt. Most likely you. Why don’t you leave this to the professionals.”

As the hero was just about to fly away, Turtle Titan held up the robotic bug from before, “Wait! You need to see this!” Interested, Silver Sentry came back down to see what he had, “Someone’s been controlling people with these things, makin’ them do crazy stuff.”

Sentry held up the bug, suspicion growing on his mind, “This looks like the work of my arch nemesis, _Dr. Malignus._ You may have disabled it, but it’s still receiving a control signal.” He scanned the city for the source, finding a warehouse on the opposite side of the docks with his powers. He came back down to the two teens, “Alright, let’s go.”

Mikey nodded, “Alright.” He then looked toward Star, “Hey, I'm sure this is going to be pretty dangerous. Why don’t you go on and head back home, I’m sure the others are worried about you being out so late.”

Star nodded, “Yeah...I think I’ve had enough for one night...” She then reached for her pocket and found the white envelope April had given her earlier. She also got a pen, “But before I go and I am aware this is a big situation right now but...”Star held it up to Silver Sentry, “Could I please get a quick autograph?  
  


**\-----**

Back at the lair, Kimiko had just gotten up from her short nap. She was on the couch, watching television as she was still half asleep. There was yet another news story about a bus gone wild. Kimiko yawned and stood up to stretch, “I always knew buses were evil...” She then went straight to the large orange mat, “Alright, time to get back to training I guess…gotta stay on top of my game.”

The moment she drew her wakizashi swords, Kim immediately whipped around to block an incoming surprise attack from the other sword wielding turtle. She smirked with a light chuckle, “Oh Leo, you’re gonna have to do better than that to catch me off guard.”

The fearless leader returned the smirk, “Let’s go, Kimmy. I’ve been eager to have somewhat of a rematch with you ever since our last match up.”

“Last I checked, we ended in a draw, two times in a row.” Kim stuck her tongue at him, “Which I so would have won had we not have had any interruptions.”

“Confident Little Turtle are we?” Leonardo backed up and readied his katana, “No holding back Kimiko.”

The two turtles stared each other down with determined expressions. Kimiko opened by repeating one of her earlier tactics. She tossed her swords up in the air and threw multiple shuriken stars at Leo. As he was busy deflecting, Kimmy hopped forward to grab her wakizashi and made a flip toward her opponent.

Leo thrust his twin katana forward to catch Kim’s incoming swords and bring her down. Once she was on the ground, Kimiko swept her legs around Leonardo’s, but he was a second ahead of her and jumped back. That was when the younger turtle grinned as she sprang up and charged in. She held her swords out from her sides and swung them around as she jumped, “ **Ninja Hurricane**!”

Leonardo held his swords up to defend himself against Kimiko's barrage, although the force from her blades caused him to slide back a little. He smirked as he found a flaw in her attack. “Not bad, except for one thing.” He swiftly moved to the side, causing Kimiko to lose balance with her footing. “You’re putting more weight on your swords, meaning it will be easier for you to lose your footing and fall.”

“Oh I knew that, Fearless...” Kimiko said...somewhat nervously. She somersaulted as she landed and turned to try for another charge in. “A ninja is always prepared with a back up plan.”

As Leonardo prepared to once again catch Kim’s swords, the younger mutant smirked and sheathed them. Then she slid through his legs and then brought her leg around once more to trip him. “Well then, I’m glad our minds think alike.” Leo jumped and performed one more flip before coming down with his swords pointing at her. Right before could make impact on her, he stopped once they were close enough, “And I believe I’ve won this round.” He put his swords away and held a hand out to help her up from the ground, “ But you did really well, Little Turtle.”

As Kimiko took his hand and stood back up, “Shell...I’d say that was a tight sparring session.”

Through the elevator, came Star, who yawned and stretched her arms, “Hey all, I’m sorry I’m late...but you’ll never believe what happened! But as soon as she spoke, Michelangelo comes in from the sewer tunnels and out of his Turtle Titan costume, “Well...that was fast.”

His brothers came to poke fun at him as he came to the TV and changed to the news channel, “At a Brooklyn warehouse, the Silver Sentry has just defeated and captured the criminal master mind known as Dr. Malignus.” The camera man zoomed out to reveal the Silver Sentry as the reporter help up the mic, “Do you wish to say anything sir?”

“Well, I have to say that I couldn’t have done it without the help of my new friend and ally, _Turtle Titan_.” The hero said as Mikey turned the TV off with his siblings in awe.

“Mikey….was that you the Silver Sentry was talking about?” Leo asked.

Mikey shrugged as he rolled his eyes with a playful smile, “I’m a _turtle_ , not a _titan_. So, who’s ready to get back into training?”

As the others went to their training area, Star poked at her friend, confused by his words, “Wait though...what happened to the whole Turtle Titan thing?”

“Well as it turns out, I do a lot better as a ninja than I can a super hero.” The orange-masked teen held out a thumbs up, “But that doesn’t mean I can’t still be a hero~!”

* * *

  
If you like this story, give it a heart or comment and maybe follow for more updates~! As always, thank you for reading~!

  
  



	13. 12

It was very late at night, Kimiko was at her hideout, working on a new project of hers. Up on the television that was hanging on the ceiling, a horror movie was on. It was an older, black and white, and very cheesy movie. But it was a classic horror film, featuring a science experiment gone wrong. It was near the movie’s climax where the main scientist was protecting a scared woman who let out a horrified scream. As the monster came closer, the scientist spoke a famous line.

“ _There are some things, man was never meant to **tamper** with!_” Kimiko said alongside the character. Right when the monster attacked, a commercial about a car dealership interrupted the movie. Kim groaned and glared at the salesman on TV, “Dude...way to ruin a movie….” She took the remote and flipped through the channels until she found something good. Before she could find anything, a very loud alarm sounded. Kimiko turned the TV off and looked at her laptop to see where the noise came from. “It seems to be coming from the old subway tunnels...” She checked the cameras to see what may have been the cause and jumped off of her chair as a shadowy, almost humanoid figure zoom past the camera.

“What in the heck was that?!” Kim rewound the recording and set it to play in slow motion. Right as the creature came in to view, she paused it to get a good look. “It would seem were aren’t the only mutants anymore.” Then another thing caught her eye. Over on a different camera that was pointing down the tunnel near the elevator to the hideout, the one she had closed off some time ago. There were a pair of bright, white eyes in the shadows. Right when she made that camera’s window bigger, another creature pounced at the camera, hissing as it broke the device.

Kimiko froze as she just kept staring at the computer, “…..Das bad….das REAL bad….” Of course she realized that the creature just now, was very close to the hideout….as well as the lair, “Well, I guess that means I’m checking that out then...alone...Oh boy, do I LOVE being me...” She sighed heavily as she knew she had to do this unless she and her family wanted an unwelcomed house guest. “I can’t go around from the other side, it’ll cause an opening for that thing to get into the lair, plus it could take a long time...then there’s that other thing in the sewers...heh..I’m sure the boys could handle that...right??” The turtle whined as she prepared herself to deal with the creature in the secret passage.

Kimiko packed the essentials, a sleeping bag, flashlights and batteries, first aid, matches, water, and food. There was also a grappling hook gun with refills, throwing stars, and a tanto (a Japanese short sword/ a dagger).

After guzzling down an energy drink, Kim pressed a button on her desk to bring up the elevator. She took a deep breath as she stepped inside, “Alright, lets get this over with...” The elevator closed and descended underground, the turtle immediately started to regret watching an all night horror movie marathon before doing this. When she came to a stop and the doors opened, Kim quietly poked her head out to find that nothing got into the lair. She sighed in brief relief and whipped her head to the other side, to the section she had closed off. There was nothing but total darkness.

Kimiko took another breather before proceeding down the path with a flashlight on. The first thing she found was the broken down camera which she left there for whenever she came back. As she progressed, she saw nothing except for more carvings on the walls. There were small crystals embedded into them, giving the tunnel low lighting. “Man...just who was it that created this place...” Kim said quietly before she was led to a cavern that was littered with these crystals. “Holy shell...”

In the center of the cavern, was an enormous pool with very clear water. It must have been forty feet deep and had much more to see than one could around the edges. The pool was also illuminated with more crystals that shined brightly. Down in the water, Kimiko could see an abundance of fish and aquatic plants, but what intrigued her the most were small dwellings near the very bottom. She set her pack down so that she could get a better view from where she was. “Absolutely beautiful...”

“ _Isn’t it?_ ”

“Yea-” The turtle froze again as the voice came from behind her. She whipped around and flashed the light. Kimiko jumped back and fell in the water.

What Kimiko saw was a female, humanoid figure. She had a sea-green skin tone, white hair, and silver eyes. Her hands had three fingers and had small webbings on them, the creature also had fins in her head, gills on the sides of her neck and waist, and a long tail with fins on the end like a mermaid almost. The female rubbed her eyes after the bright light had shined on her, “Ow...that’s not very nice...”

“Y-you just spoke..” Kim said as she was getting out of the water.

“Well yeah...I guess I did.” The girl giggled, she seemed rather friendly than feral. “I am called Liette, I am of Mer folk.”

The turtle gave a small smile as she introduced herself,“You can call me Kimiko. Kim or Kimmy for short. I’m a mutant turtle, skilled under the art of Ninjutsu.” She pointed toward the direction she came in from, “I came down here because an alarm had tripped near my family’s home. The next thing I know, one of my security cameras is taken down in a flash.”

Liette gasped as she flushed with embarrassment, her hands covering her face, “Oh my...that was yours? I do not know very much about the technology of the surface world and I had gotten scared when I found it. I had thought it was a ghost from the ancient city...so I...I attacked it out of self-defense.” Then she bowed to the turtle, “I’m so sorry!!”

Kim waved a hand as she sheepishly laughed, “Don’t worry about, I can fix it.” Then she became curious about this city the whitette spoke of, “So would you mind explaining this ancient civilization?”

“Well...I am afraid I do not know very much about it either. There were stories I learned from the older generations of the Mer folk. I am not very good at stories, but I can show you if you follow me.” Liette said, then she pointed to the water, “Are you able to hold your breath for a long period of time?”

Kimiko reached in her pack for a small device connected to a little oxygen tank that was used for underwater breathing, “Until the air in this tank runs out. A ninja is always prepared.” The Mergirl nodded and they dove into the water. Kim was taken to a cave in the pool, they went through it, which led to another part of the cavern. She had expected to see others like Liette, but there there was no other Mer person around. Kimiko broke the surface to find a giant crystal on the wall, almost like a flat screen TV. In the center of the room was a pedestal with a smaller crystal on it. “Wow...may I ask how the crystals came to be?”

Liette placed her hand on the crystal that was in the pedestal, “You’ll find that out if you watch this.” She turned it so that it was horizontal on the stand, then, a projection of some kind appeared on the giant crystal. It donned on Kimiko that the architects of these structures had technology that surpassed the present day.

On the screen, showed a city from millennia ago. The inhabitants were praised by a moon that all of the crystals seemed to have been made from. The people had also enslaved many different creatures, from aquatic Mer people like Liette, to Avians, people with wings, almost like angels. “And so, the ancient city fell to the bottom of the ocean, which soon became an [underground civilization.](http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-VRgzFIyNQTs/UFdlU1lzAtI/AAAAAAAAEdc/owN6nORmn4U/s1600/Undergroundcity+exterior.jpg) As the earth evolved and humans became more and more intelligent, the ancient race began to slowly become extinct.”

“Shell...that was just...wow..” Was all Kimiko could really say, “So, this ghost you’ve seen could have been the spirit of that race? Still...I can’t quite put my finger on it but, I feel as if I’ve heard of something like this...oh well. I still find this discovery to be really interesting.”

“I wish I could have seen the city myself, but I am sure that there are still remnants that remain somewhere.” Liette said as she turned off the projection.

“Liette, if it’s alright, I would like to know where the rest of your people are? Do I scare them or something?”

The whitette let out a sad sigh, “Well you see..I am the only one here. I remember waking up one day, ten years ago, to find that my people had left all of a sudden. I do not know what happened, it was something they would never do unless of an emergency.”

“So you’ve been here all alone, haven’t you?” Kim asked, her eyes softened.

Liette shook her head as she smiled again, “Not at all, I have the fish to communicate with. I will admit that I do feel lonely at times, but whenever I do, I talk to the fish around me.”

Kimiko smiled warmly at the girl, she felt a little bad for asking about the subject, “If you would like, my brothers and I can try and help you search for them.”

“I would appreciate that, Kimiko.” Then they went back into the water and returned to the entrance, “Well, I am glad to have met you.”

“So am I, to be honest, I wasn’t sure what I was going to find down here.” Kim laughed as she wrung the water out of her hair, “But I’m happy I found someone to call a friend.” She then pointed down the tunnel that lead to the lair, “If you ever need help or just someone to talk to, My family and I aren’t that far down.”

Liette bowed to the turtle, “Thank you, I would like that.”

Kimiko then waved farewell to the Mer girl before heading back to the hideout. She could feel herself ready to crash after the energy had left her body. Once at the hideout, she unrolled her sleeping bag and was able to get a good few hours of rest until another alarm sounded. She got up to check her computer and that’s when her heart nearly stopped. Foot Ninja were in the sewers..everywhere!

“ **SHELL!!** ” She immediately went back down the elevator and into the lair, hoping she wasn’t too late.


	14. 13

After searching and gathering her family before they were found out, Kimiko immediately closed the entrance to the sewer at the lair. “Alright, we need to get somewhere...somewhere the Foot won’t be able to find us until they leave the sewers.”

“Why can’t we just take em’ out by force? This is **our** turf!” An enraged Raph shouted, his dual sai ready in his hands.

“Because that could lead them here and we can’t have that.” Leo said pacing back and forth as he analyzed possible solutions in his head.

Then Mikey hatched an idea, “I know the perfect place! April’s!”

“That could work.” Leo said, nodding in agreement, “But there could very well be Foot ninja out there, just waiting to ambush us. If we’re going to head there, then we’ll need to really stick to the shadows to avoid any confrontation.”

“Star should still be there.” Kimiko added, “Donatello, can you contact her and tell her to stay at April’s apartment?” The geek sharply nodded and did as she told, “Alright, now if we’re going to get there, there’s a passage behind my room that leads to another warehouse on the surface. For safety reasons, I think we should go through there, it’s a little closer to April’s place too.”

“And you’ve known that for how long?” Leo questioned.

“Long enough.” Was all Kimiko said, “Now lets get going.” Kim led the boys and Splinter to her room, the opening to the secret passage was still open from earlier, “I found this when we were cleaning up the lair when we got here. I wasn’t sure what I was going to do with it, but eventually made it into a bit of a hideout for me.” She pulled the bookshelf back into place before tracing her finger around the carving and closing off the tunnel. Kim took them up the elevator where she showed off the warehouse. “And this, is where I make stuff happen. I make my weapons, gadgets, and just...plan what I do pretty much. Anyway, we can’t waste time.”

Donnie grinned in awe, like a kid in a candy store, “Wow...nice place! “

“Eh, I still think it needs more work done.” Kim said while gathering a couple of red shuriken that had triggers in the center. She then walked over to a display case made from a vending machine, in it was the Kuro Katana armor, it was still in need of repairs. She stared at it for a moment, then she spoke in a quiet voice,“I wonder if I should...”

Splinter came up to her after she stood silent for another moment,“Is something wrong, my girl?”

Kim shook her head and made her way to the door that lead outside, “No Sensei..let’s get going.”

Once the turtles were outside, they stuck close by until they got to the back entrance of April’s apartment. Mikey knocked on the door and they were met with the redhead who had just gotten out of the shower. She still had a green facial mask on, “Hey April, cool mud pact gurl!” Mike said as he and his brothers let themselves in.

The youngest turtle sighed as she watched her father thank April for letting them in, “Sorry about the sudden visit, April. I trust Leo or one of the guys will explain everything to you.” Really, Kim was in no mood to speak with anyone. As everyone else bunked in the main room on the second floor, the pink-masked turtle stayed in the stairwell with her own thoughts. She slammed her fist against the wall, completely angry with herself, “I knew I should have kept an eye on them...and now, because of that mistake, you and your family have been forced to flee.” Kim sat down on the stairs as she covered her face with her hands, “What is wrong with me..”

“Nothing. That’s what.” Came the ever-so-calming voice of Leonardo who took a seat next to her.“We don’t always have control over the outcome of everything.”

“I just...I feel like I could have- **should have** done more..like I could have protected us from well..” Kim huffed as she clenched a fist, feeling her fingernails digging into her palm, “From this situation...”

Leonardo also let out a long sigh and nodded, “I get where you’re coming from, Kim. You want to do whatever you can to make sure that your family is safe from harm. It stresses you out more than anything, and the fact that the Foot are also involved in this, just makes it that much worse. And when it’s comes to something beyond your control, something you believe you could have stopped if you acted more quickly, you feel as if you just want to beat yourself up for not being stronger or smarter. Believe me, it’s natural to become protective over the things you care about the most, to where you would do anything, even if it meant putting your life on the line.”

“Oh I believe you, alright...” As she registered everything Leo said, she rose a brow as she studied his face, “Hey, Leo...Don’t you ever get scared?”

Leo let out a soft chuckle, “Well as a leader, showing any signs of fear or weakness can put a bad effect on your team. You have to be strong and have a focused mind as well. But...I will admit that I do worry at times.” He reached over to tuck a strand of Kim’s green hair under a section of her mask ( _Turtles don’t have ears….well they do but not like human ears_ ), “You for example, Kim. You’re the youngest out of us all, yet you’re the most independent turtle I know. What worries me is that you’ll end up seriously hurt..or worse if you kept it going. I feel as if I should be the one to protect you when that happens. With the fact that you used to get so sick, you couldn’t leave your bed to now having the need to throw yourself into danger...but it just...makes me feel like I can’t protect you at all sometimes.”

Right before she could say anything, Raphael’s voice boomed from upstairs. “We need ta get back down there and flush them Foot goons out of the sewers!!”

“Oh shell…I’ll be right back, I have a feeling that this is going to get ugly...” Leonardo said as he let out an annoyed sigh and went up into the apartment to calm his brother down.

That left Kimiko alone on the stair, her face became a maroon color and felt very heated, “He-….I-….” She groaned loudly in frustration, “Dammit Leo, why do you do this to me!?!?” She shook her head and buried it as she hugged her legs to calm herself down, “One thing’s for certain though...The Foot are _back_ , but under what leadership? Could it be someone from the branch all the way in Japan? But that would really spell trouble, from the intel that I’ve gathered, Foot soldiers from that branch are a lot tougher than they are here...”

**\----**

The next night Leonardo and Raphael were in another argument over what to do about the current situation. It wasn’t surprising at all, it usually ended with the hothead calming down with a shower or with a good game of football on TV. Donatello helped April greatly with fixing the water heater and other appliances that she would normally have to call and pay for. He was practically a life saver for her. Michelangelo did the cooking, but ended up making a big mess. Though his cooking was surprisingly really good! Splinter would sit and meditate in his appointed spot, an armchair near the door. He would also be the voice of reason and wisdom, often putting a stop to arguments and just keeping the peace around the apartment. Then there was Kimiko, she stayed quiet and kept to herself, only speaking when she needed to. Most of the time, she would stare out one side of the window to refrain from being seen or stay in the stairwell where she could think.

Star was out during the early evening, she was headed to the nearest Blockbuster store to pick out a few movies that she and the others could watch. She kept her hood up to avoid being spotted by any thugs, and if that failed, Kimiko had given her a [Kyoketsu-shoge](http://www.weapons-universe.com/Martial_Arts/Ninja/Ninja_Weapons/Shoge_Hook-VL-0220105.gif) (A small blade, like a kunai knife, attached to a long chain. On the end of the chain, is usually a metal ring, it can also be used as a grappling hook) for self-defense.

Star was almost to the movie store when she heard a cry in distress, “ Look, I don’t know who you are, but leave me alone!”It came from the ally she was just about to pass by, she stopped so she could listen in on what was going on.

“Look lady, we can do dis one er two ways, ya can hand ova’ ya purse like I asked, or we can do dis tha hard way.” A snarky punk’s voice said, threatening whoever the lady was. The blonde teen took out her weapon and quietly but quickly moved into the alley. She turned down a connecting dead end to find a woman being cornered by a Purple Dragon who had a metal bat in his hands. Star immediately ran in, swinging her kyoketsu’s chain and threw it at the thug. The Purple Dragon held the bat up and caught the chain, “Oi! Can’t ya see I’m in da middle of some business here?!”

“Sorry pal, the only thing you’re gonna get out of this is a world of hurt!” Star’s chain had wrapped around the bat as it was caught. She smirked as she yanked it and the thug’s weapon back and out of his hands. Then the older woman was able to get out a can of mace from her purse and spray the gangster in the face. Star finished by knocking him out with his own bat. She then looked to the woman as she put away her weapon, “Let’s go before any of his friends find out about this.” Then, Star led her into the closest building, which was a small pharmacy, “These people should have a phone you can use. I wouldn’t suggest leaving here until someone comes to pick you up.”

When she tried to quickly leave, the woman gently grabbed her arm, “Wait, let me thank you at least!”

Star held her hands up and waved them, “You don’t have to Ma’am, this sort of thing is pretty common in New York. You just have to be really careful.”

The woman ended up being very stubborn, so Star had no choice but to accept a couple of passes for Coney Island, the local amusement park. The teen continued her trip to the movie store, this time, taking a bus to avoid getting hunted down by more Purple Dragons. “They’re supposedly connected to the Foot Clan...which means getting their attention and leading them to April’s would not be pleasant…” Star adjusted her hood as she stepped out of the bus and into the store.

The store itself had a safe atmosphere for the time being, so Star decided to take her time in deciding what movies to get. There were a few new ones, like ‘ _Finding Nemo_ ’ and ‘ _The Hulk_ ’. She chose a few different titles including- ‘ _Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pear_ l’, ‘ _Freddy vs Jason_ ’, and a triology set of the ‘ _Lord of the Rings_ ’. She bought some snacks to watch with the movies before getting back on the bus and riding it back to the apartment. Star looked all around her to make sure she wasn’t followed, then went inside through the antique shop. As she walked up the stairs, she was greeted with a saddened Donatello. “Hey, brainiac, what’s up?”

He shook his head and looked at her with a faint smile, “I just, met a new friend..but it was short lived..” He explained that he met an guy named Kirby*, he was a tenant of April’s who lived in the basement apartment. Don told her how much of a great artist he was and that his drawings would come to life with the help of a magic crystal he found but would disappear after about a minute. Apparently he and Kirby went through some kind of portal that was drawn up, which was where all of the drawings went to. Sadly, the portal started to close and Donatello was the only one who was able to get out. The turtle held out a small drawing of himself with some kind of gauntlet with a farewell message that read-

‘ _Don-_

_Life at best is bittersweet. Take care of yourself._

_-Kirby_ ’

Then Don silently walked up the stairs where an angry Raph in nothing but a towel questioned if he fixed the water heater only to get a glare from his brother. Star sighed, “Poor guy...this just doesn’t seem to be any of their day..or days...maybe the Foot will leave soon so they can get back to their lives..”

But little did they know...it was only the beginning of something far worse...

* * *

*Kirby is a character who made a short appearance in TMNT 2003 in the 16th episode titled -"The King"

He is a reference to the legendary Comic Book Artist, [Jack Kirby](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jack_Kirby), the episode entirely is dedicated to him. This episode was also based on the original Mirage comic _Donatello_ #1, entitled "[Kirby and the Warp Crystal](http://turtlepedia.wikia.com/wiki/Kirby_and_the_Warp_Crystal)".

  
  



	15. 14

It was early in the morning, around five, and the sun had just begun to rise. Leonardo lift open the window, about to head out for a run.

“Your early morning training, my son?” Came a surprise Splinter who stood from his chair and walked over to his eldest son to speak without waking the others up.

The blue-masked turtle nodded, “Yes, while the city is still quiet.”

“Your disipline is commendable, have a good run.” Splinter said as Leo was about to leap to the rooftop across from the apartment. “You are not thinking of going to check out the lair alone, are you?”

Leo turned back around and scoffed, “Why would I do that?” Then his eyes narrowed as anger rose within him, “Just because the sewer tunnels are overrun with Foot ninja? So we’re forced to hide here at April’s like cowards?”

Master Splinter sighed lowly, “You ask a question that not a question. When you go to face the Foot, it must be done together, as a team. Not as rash individuals.”

The blue-masked turtle calmed himself, “I understand Sensei...I am curious though, with Shredder gone, what _are_ the Foot up to?”

“Patience, my son.” Splinter said as he paced back to his spot, “I have a feeling we will find out soon.” Right as he was facing away from Leonardo, he felt his presence leave the room. When the rat turned his head, his son was already off on a run.

“Are you sure it was wise to let him go like that?” Came a quiet but alert Kimiko. She was seated in front of the TV and was watching the curtains as they were moved by the wind.

Splinter nodded as he sat down, “I have no doubt that Leonardo will go against what I have told him.”

The youngest turtle stood up with her arms crossed. She approached the window and stared out into the city, “I just…I have a very bad feeling about what’s to come.” Kim turned her head as she spoke quietly, but enough for her father to hear, “Is there a possibility that…-” She stopped and shook her head, “ **Never mind** , forget I said anything.”

**\----**

Another hour had passed and the entire apartment was still quiet, everyone resting soundly. Although, Kim was still awake as she was restless. Her thoughts had clouded her mind, a part of her was ready to run back to her hideout and see what the Foot Clan were really up to. But she knew that her armor was still in need of repair and that it would take a while to do so. Kim also feared that even if she were to complete it and return as her alias, the Kuro Katana, something would happen to the others while she was gone.

“Wah!!” She snapped her head to the couch where she heard her brother, Michelangelo, yell. Only to see that nothing was wrong with him...he laughed as Raph and Don had their weapons out, “Aw man...I was sleeping on my hand and then my hand got numb and hit my face, so I thought somebody slapped me!” The orange-masked turtle laughed more as he thought about it, “Don’t you hate that!?”

Raph shook his head as he put away his sai, “Words fail me...”

As he walked toward the bathroom, Mikey jumped in front of him and stole it, “Dibs on the bathroom~!” All Raphael did was slam his head on the door and growl loudly.

“Typical...” Kim muttered as she rested her shell against the wall.

“Well, I’m up...” Star said as she sat up from one of the corners of the apartment, “And I’ll go start some coffee.”

Mikey ran out of the bathroom when he was finished and joined her in the kitchen, “I’ll make breakfast! Whatchu’ fancy Star?”

The blonde couldn't help but giggle at his hyper, childish behavior, “Just make some eggs and toast, you can never go wrong with that. Although, try making the eggs fried this time.”

“Yes ma’am!” The orange-masked turtle grinned as he stuffed bread into the toaster and then grabbed the eggs from the fridge.

Once the food started cooking, April came out of her room, “Well...I really do have five turtles and a rat in my apartment-Wait..” She sniffed as she smelled the food, “What’s burning?”

“Mikey’s cooking.” Was all Raph said as he turned the TV on.

Star leaned over the counter to stop the toaster from burning the bread, “Careful Mike!” She sighed in relief that they weren’t too dark and went back to getting coffee cups ready.

“Thanks!” Mikey hummed a little tune as he cooked but stopped as he accidentally popped the yolk on one of the eggs. Then he decided to mix them all up, “Scrambled’s okay with everyone right?!”

“ _Again!?_ ” He heard the others groan.

Then while he finished the food, Mikey looked up as one turtle was missing, “Hey guys? Where’s Leo?”

“He is engaged in his morning exercises.” Was all Splinter said, who was meditating in his chair.

“Well he better get back soon unless he wants to get soaked.” Don stated as he looked out of the window, “That sky sure doesn’t look friendly...”

Next to him, Kimiko grunted as she glared out at the sky as lightning started to strike, ‘ _This is a bad omen…_ ’

A few minutes later, Mikey was throwing plates to Raph like they were frisbees. Raph managed to catch most of them, but one ended up breaking… Then as all but the pink-masked turtle took a seat at the dinner table, Mikey carried over all the plates, balanced along his shoulders and head.

“U-um...can I help you with that very _**delicate**_ China?” A shaky April asked, knowing the goofball.

“Nope!” Mikey said as he threw the plates in the air. April screamed and covered her eyes , ready to hear more plates being broken. But opened her eyes after hearing nothing and was surprised as the table was all set. Michelangelo blew on his fist and grinned, “Ninja training, more useful than ya think!”

“Yo Kim?” Raph called out as his sister was still glaring out the window, “Ya comin’ ta eat or what?”

All she did was turn her head to look at him before looking back out into the city. “Kimmy? Everything okay?” Don asked as she was very quiet.

Kimiko stayed how she was as the rain began to pour. She was silent for a moment before finally speaking in a low tone, “I’m fine.”

The boys exchanged expressions before they shrugged and started chowing down.

“Is Leo going to be alright out there?” Star asked as the watched the rain fall.

“Star, if there’s one turtle you don’t ever have to worry about, it’s Leo.” Don said confidently. “I’m sure he’s fine.”

**\----**

Hours upon hours had passed and Leonardo had yet to return. Kimiko bit the inside of her cheek as anxiety washed though her body, “He should have been back by now.”

“May I have your attention please!!” Mikey said loudly as everyone turned to him. There was a pause in silence before he let out a long, loud belch. Another moment of silence passed, then Raph, Star, and Don began to applaud him, “Thank you, thank you!!”

“Gross!!” April complained before looking back at a map of the sewers that Splinter had out.They were coming up with a plan to get the Foot out from the tunnels.

The old rat sighed and shook his head, “This is what I live with all the time.”

Don slowly stopped clapping as the realized what they were doing, “Why did I just do that..?”

Raph growled as he got up from the couch, “That’s it, I’m goin’ out ta find Leo so we can get this show on tha’ road. No offense April but we really gotta get back down there. I’m goin’ stir crazy here.”

“You are going no where until your brother returns.” Splinter said strictly, “ **Sit**.”

“Man!” Raph groaned and sat back down on the couch, “We have ta’ stay here while Leo gets ta have all tha fun!”

**\----**

Another few hours passed and it was starting to become night time. Kim angrily punched the wall, “Where the shell is he!?”

“Well it’s not like the Shredder is back so he must have found a few PD’s to clobber?” Mikey suggested.

“A **few** Purple Dragon’s doesn’t take a **whole flippin’ day** , Mikey! And it sure as shell wouldn’t take that long for Leonardo!” Kim said as she tightened her fist, “This just isn’t something Leo would do...Dammit! I knew he shouldn’t have gone out alone! Heck, he shouldn’t have left the apartment at all!”

“I’m with you, Kim,” Raph said as he got up from the couch, “We have ta go find him.” Then he looked at their father for permission.

Splinter sighed, they were right and he was just as worried, “ **Go**.”

Raph and Kim looked and gave each other a sharp nod as they started to leave. But as soon as they did, they were greeted with a wild turtle in blue crashing into the apartment through the window. Horror came to everyone’s faces as he lied there with heavy injuries on his body, “Leo!!” They ran to him to check him out, he was barely conscious. “Who did this to you?!”

Leonardo was struggling speak as Mikey held him up. Raphael roared in rage as he was about to go on a witch hunt, “No...Raph….wait...” The hothead stopped and went back to his brother's side. The injured turtle placed a weak hand on Raph’s shoulder, “He’s...back..the... **Shredder**..” was all he managed to say before blanking out.

“Did I hear right!?” Mikey started as he panicked, “Did he just say...the Shredder is _back_!?!?”

Kimiko felt everything around her stop as she wrapped her head around what the fearless leader said, “That...that can’t be...” It was as if all of her fears were suddenly pushed into one, “Shredder..he’s back...” She dropped to her knees as she was frozen with shock.

“It’s just like the comics...” Mikey said as he let Splinter take care of his brother, then he looked out the broken window, “The bad guy always comes back, always! Need I say more?!” Then he froze still, “Uh...guys? We got company!!” Mikey shouted as Foot ninja appeared on the rooftops of the buildings in front of the apartment.


	16. 15

“So uh, what’s the plan? Leo’s always got a plan ready, so what do we do!?” Mikey cried as he panicked.

“We ain’t got time for a plan.” Raph said as he twirled his sai, “We just gotta fight!”

Don readied his bo staff as they were surrounded by enemies, “We need to hold them off until we get our brother to safety.”

Kimiko shook off the shock and jumped to her feet as ninja began to pour into the room. She drew one of her swords and started to strike the enemies one by one. “Our number one priority right now is getting Leonardo to safety.” She then spotted the couch and jumped onto it. With Michelangelo’s help, they kicked it away from the wall and pushed it forward, “We can use this as a small barrier.” Then Kim signaled to Splinter and April who here protecting Leo, to bring him over to the couch, “When the coast is clear, we’ll start getting him out of the apartment and downstairs and out through the shop.”

She ducked as Mikey was then thrown by a very tall and very buff Foot soldier. The ninja was about to swing his own katana at her, but he was then kicked away by Splinter. “I will fight.” He looked to Kimiko and then to Michelangelo who had gotten up to keep an eye on Leo, “You will get your brother downstairs, quickly.”

“Right!” Then, as they were going to help April with Leo, the injured one had regained his consciousness but barely, “Leonardo?!”

“M-my swords...where are my swords?” Then he shut his eyes as pain stung him.

“Hang in there bro!” Mike said as Kimiko fought off more ninja as she searched the ground but couldn't spot Leonardo’s swords. She wanted him to rest and knew he felt better when he had his katana with him.

Over in the kitchen, Star had her kyoketsu out and spun the chain around smacking Foot soldiers away as Donatello had her back. “ So this Shredder guy, where is he?”

“He’ll probably show up soon. He’s the type who plays dirty.” Don said, sweeping a ninja off his feet with his bo staff.

“Donatello, Raphael, Star, you three cover the rear,” Splinter started, “Michelangelo, I told you to help Ms. O’neil down the stairs. Kimiko, you will go with them.”

April helped Leonardo to the door as ninja started to surround her. Right when she opened the door, she gasped as there were more waiting on the other side. With a little bit of strength he managed to gather, Leo used his leg to kick the door shut. The redhead got him out of the way as Kimiko and Michelangelo did away with the Foot ninja around them and down the stairs. They kicked down the ninja in the stairwell, causing them to fall into each other like dominoes.

Kim went ahead to open the door that led to the antique shop. Once she was inside, she looked around as it was very quiet. Then she stopped as she spotted[ four ninja](https://i2.wp.com/www.adventuresinpoortaste.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/12/tmnt-2003-shredder.jpg?resize=781%2C598) in red and black garb, each armed with weapons. All four of them wore fancy-looking straw hats as well. “Ooohhh...ss **sHELL**!!” Then right before she slammed the door closed and went to check on everyone else, she spoke to them, “ _Nice hats_ by the way!!” She then ran up the stairs and was met with all but Raph who was keeping the ninja from upstairs at bay, “Son of a- I really didn’t expect to find whatever horror was now down there….”

“How bad could it be?” Mikey said as he went down to look himself. He slowly opened the door and peeked in as he spotted the same ninja, “……. _Nice hats!!_ ” Then he ,too. slammed the door and ran back to the others, “There are some freaky looking ninja dudes down there!”

Donatello rolled his eyes and hopped down the stairs, “Well duh. Let’s get this over with, besides, the shop is out only exit.” He went through the door and froze. Then after about a minute of staring, “ _Nice hats_!!” Then one of the ninja threw their axe at him, making Donnie jump back and hit a wall in the process.

Kim and Mikey then joined their brother as they readied their weapons, “Guys, whatever you do, be very **_very_** careful here.” Kim said as she glared at the ninja, “These guys are Shredder’s personal elite guards. They are deadliest of assassins.”

“Whoah!” Came a wild Raph who switched places with Splinter to fight with his siblings. The red-masked turtle stared at the Foot elites before making the very same comment, “ _Nice hats_!”

The turtles and the elites came at each other, one of them, armed with a trident like weapon struck for Raphael while he was busy with the axe wielding ninja. Kimiko caught the trident and pushed the elite back, “Hey now, that’s not very nice, pal.” Then she was kicked aside by a different ninja, “Man, these are the guys who have actual teamwork involved...”

Over at the stairs, April held onto the beaten up Leonardo. She gasped as his grip around her loosened and his skin was losing color, “Master Splinter, he’s getting worse!”

“There are too many ninja, we can not stay here any longer!” Splinter responded after finishing the group of ninja upstairs and then jumped ahead into the shop.

Star panted as she came down and guarded April and Leo, “Man, just how many Foot ninja are there!?”

That was when a hulking brute of a man, Hun, came from behind them. He snatched Leonardo up by his shell and poked at him, “Your friend doesn’t look so good...” He smirked evilly as he looked at the girls, “Shall I put him out of his misery?”

Right as Hun was about to lay another hand on the turtle, Star threw the chain of her weapon and wrapped it around his arm to stop him, “No you won’t! Put him down now!”

The large man laughed, “As you wish.” Then he threw Leonardo into a shop and into a metal pole head first. Then Hun yanked the chained arm up harshly, bringing Star up and then catching her, “Do ya really think your puny weapon is gonna do much here?”

“No but I can do this.” Star swung her foot up and hit the man in the chin, causing him to drop her. She jumped back as she hit the ground, “See ya!” Star ran into the shop with April and slammed the door, then quickly moved a shelf to block it. The blonde then elbowed an incoming Foot soldier in the gut and stole his bo staff, “ Man...I really liked that kyoketsu..I guess this will have to do then.”

Kimiko was now guarding Leonardo as she fought with an elite ninja. The elite vanished right when she was about to land a hit on him. She stayed alert and looked all around, waiting for the ninja to come back. The other three turtles came to help protect Leo when the Foot elites appeared at the front door. Then, with a single kick, the Shredder himself destroyed the door and entered the shop. Kim’s grip on her swords tightened as she began to seethe with anger, “You...how are you still **_alive_**!?”

“You freaks have been a thorn in my side long enough.” Shredder said as he slowly walked. Before he could get any closer, Master Splinter hopped in front of his children, “No one opposes the Shredder! You will perish for our last encounter!” He thrust his talons forward, “Say farewell to each other while you still can!”

That was when the youngest turtle snapped and pounced at him before anyone else could, “Like **shell** you’ll do anything to **my** family!!” She roared as her swords came down and met with Shredder’s gauntlet.

Shredder brought his leg up toward Kim’s gut which she used as a boost to flip herself over him and spin her wakizashi around as she came down. The armored man moved his fists to meet with her blades as they made contact, “You are nothing compared to me!” Then he grabbed her swords and threw her at one of the display counters, yanking the swords from her grip. Shredder took them and with relative ease, he broke them as if they were thin sticks.

One by one, the other turtles ended up getting their shells handed to them as the tried to take on the Shredder. The guy swiped Don’s weapon to use as his own as he then went for Splinter, while the elites faced the turtles.

The elites were about to finish the boys off when a surprise light from outside the front windows shined on them. Then came the loud hum of a motorcycle as it crashed into the store and turned to face the ninja. On the bike, was Casey Jones in his famous hockey mask who rammed it into the elites and knocked three of them out onto the street. Then he floored it to hit the last one and send him flying into a shelf which then fell onto the ninja. Casey got off the motorcycle and spoke, “Now _that’s_ what I call a party!” He then took a hockey stick from his duffel bag and clobbered a Foot soldier with it, “Though I’ve never seen a lamer party in my life! Where’s the band?!” He came up to April who was still with Leonardo, “ You okay babe?”

April felt a little heat come to her cheeks at his comment, “Don’t call me babe...”

The Shredder growled in the distance, “Obliterate him!!” He demanded as his ninja charged for the vigilante.

“This can’t be the band...I want rock n’ roll!!” Casey shouted in a cocky manner while grabbed a golf club and then twirled both of his weapons, “Good thing I brought my drum sticks!” He glared at the incoming ninja as the other turtles and Star readied to fight, “Now who wants to be the drums!?” As the team went in to fight, Casey shouted his battle cry, “ **Goongala**!!”

As they were all busy fighting, Hun smashed though the back door to join in. He then noticed that the others were busy fighting while April and Leo were out in the open and vulnerable. The large man smirked as he cracked his knuckles and approached them.

April was quick to notice and shielded the injured turtle with her arms as she glared at Hun, “ You want him, you’ll have to get through me first!”

“Oh I will.” Hun said with an evil grin, “Since you’re so precious to them, they’ll really feel the sting if I get you first.”

He rose his fist and threw it. April shut her eyes to brace for the impact but instead of feeling anything, there was nothing but the sound of a feminine grunt. She opened her eyes to find that Kimiko stood in front of her with Hun’s fist connected to her yellow plastron. The pink-masked turtle was holding onto the large fist as it cracked her shell a little. Kim looked up at Hun with one eye opened and as she caught her breath, “You aren’t….laying a finger...on them..”

“Well aren’t we you the brave, little hero.” Hun said with a dark chuckle as he lifted the same arm again with the turtle attached to it, “A shame you ain’t gonna last very long.” He then slammed Kimiko hard on the ground before throwing her aside and into a metal door near the back of the store. “Now, where were we.” Hun said as he cracked his knuckles once more, staring down at April.

Once again, he was stopped as a small rock hit him in the arm. Hun looked over in the direction it came from and spotted Kimiko struggling to stand up. She had a hand full of pebbles and threw them at the muscled man one by one. “I’m not through yet...”Kim dropped the rocks before she used her remaining strength to charge at him, “Not while I still breathe!!” She roared as she jumped and wailed multiple kicks on him until he fell back and onto a bunch of Foot ninja. Kimiko was just about to fall over when Casey ran over to catch her.

“Gotcha.” He said as he carried her over to sit next to Leonardo while taking out more ninja, “Now you sit still while I go have more fun!” Then Casey came back into the crowd of battling ninja.

Kimiko sat up as she then spotted Leonardo trying to stand up, “Leo, wait, what are you doing!?”

“You need to rest!” April added as she tried to help him.

“No!!” But Leonardo refused her aid and slowly and weakly stood up, “I...have to fight!”

Then he tried to run forward and after that, he pushed a shelf over to try and help Splinter fight the Shredder. But it unfortunately only stopped them for a brief minute before Leo collapsed once again. “Leonardo!” Splinter cried as his heart dropped at the sight. Within the small window of time he had, the rat had a chance to glance around the shop. There were way too many Foot soldiers for them to handle. So, he made a final decision, “We must retreat!!”

“But where too? The only exit is blocked!” Donatello shouted as he was able to get his bo staff back and knocked an enemy off their feet.

April then had an idea and pointed to the metal door that Kimiko was thrown at a few minutes ago, “Through there!”

Star was first to get to the door and pried it open and signaled the others, “Through here!! Quickly!”

Mikey then picked up his sister as April and Raph carried Leo with the others following into the small room. Don and Casey shut the door right before the Shredder could attack. They kept a strong hold on it as the others caught their breath.

But...there was only one problem, “Great….small, dark ,and no way out! Just great for a final stand!” Raph shouted.

“This used to be a walk-in freezer. The shop actually used to be a grocery store once upon a time.” April explained.

“… _Fascinatin’_...” Was all the hothead said before they all heard the sirens of police cars.

Soon, the door suddenly felt very hot, “Ow...there must be a fire going on out there...” Don said as he blew on the burn that was now on his hand. Then a faint scent hit his nose and he cocked a brow, “and I smell gas!”

“ **Mikey**...” Raph glared at his orange-masked brother in annoyance.

“Not _that_ kind of gas!” Don said as his face became serious.

“-Wait!” Casey started as he added the factors in his head, “Gas plus Flame equals- **We gotta book**!!” He yanked on the door to open it but was left to no avail, “The door, it won’t budge!!”

“But that’s our only way out!! How are we gonna escape now!?” Mikey panicked.

“W-wait a minute,” Kimiko got out of Mikey’s arms and stood up, “ Since this place was a walk-in freezer, then there has to be a place for a cooling unit to be placed, typically it would be set up outside and come through the wall somewhere.” She wobbled as she tried to move, but her brother held her up.

“Wait!” April got up and pushed a large crate that was by the back wall aside to reveal a sheet of metal blocking a large enough opening, “I remember when I moved into this shop, there was a hole in the wall where the unit was removed.”

Raphael immediately ran over and pried the sheet off. He then ushered his family to get a move on. As they all got out, they ran away from the burning building as an explosion was made from the fire from a bomb the Shredder dropped before he left and the gas from a pipe that was slashed open.

April broke down in tears as her home was gone, Casey wrapped his arms around her as he watched the flames burn. He was reminded of the time when he was little, when Purple Dragon burned down his father’s office, his father along with it.

“So..” Star broke the silence as she turned to her friends, “Where can we go now? No doubt the sewers are still over run with Foot ninja...”

Within another period of silence, an idea popped within Jones’ head, “ _Guys...I have the perfect place_.”


	17. 16

****

**-Kimiko's POV-**

I stir from another dream from the events of the previous night, Leonardo crashing through the window of April's apartment and then the Foot attacking us in waves until the Shredder appeared. We were forced to retreat into an old freezer as there were way too many Foot soldiers coming at us. The seven of us almost perished from the explosion had April not remembered a closed off hole in the wall that led into the alley behind it.

And so here we all are in a freezing truck, April and Casey are in the front while my brothers, Master Splinter,Star, and I are in the back. Leo's barely breathing, sounding worse every couple minutes. Mikey's complaining nonstop but would calm down a bit after Star would try to talk to him, she was quiet for the most part however. Raph shuts him up constantly, and the other two just keep constant eyes on Leo, switching to rest every hour. My body was still sore from the beatings I took, but it didn't compare to how much hurt seeing Leonardo in his condition.

I was sitting in the corner near the doors, far away from the others with my arms hugging my legs. This mess should never have happened, I should have stopped Leo when I could have, I never should have believed that the Shredder was gone…If only I had kept my watch on the Foot Clan, I could've bought us more time to act, to warn them, but I didn't……I absolutely hate myself for letting it all happen when I should've been able to have done something…

….But I know one thing, Shredder will **not** get away with this, I swear on whatever honor I have left that he will get what's coming to him…

**-Third Person POV-**

Casey stopped the truck as the gang reached their destination…. An old, dusty, almost broken down farm house with a small barn next to it, at least the snow covered up most of the messed up roof…it wasn't much, but at least they were away from the city. Kimiko got out from the back with Master Splinter and watched as Leonardo was being carried inside the house. He was set gently on the sofa with a heavy blanket covering him. Donatello placed a bowl of water to the side with a towel,which he soaked and placed over his brother's forehead. Everyone was huddled around the blue-masked turtle with worried expressions, Kim, however, kept her gaze out the window. She couldn't bare to see the result of what she could've prevented. Then, she heard Don attempt to get through to Leo, telling a story of what happened when they were just turtle tots.

Little Donatello was showing off a remote control car until it fell into the sewer water. It had just stormed and the storm drains were creating a fast current, carrying off any junk into the large drainage junction below. Donnie was so determined to get his car back that he ignored Little Leo's warnings. He fell into the rushing water when he tried to reach for it and then into the overflowing junction. His foot got stuck and he nearly drowned until Leonardo came and saved him.

As Don ended his tale, he and the others watched for a sign of life, but none was found. Michelangelo decided to give it a go and told a story about how Leo could always stay focused on something and **never** broke away from it….unless something threatened him. Then, Raphael tried his luck, his story ended in a similar way.

Raph and Leo were playing follow the leader and it was Raph's turn to lead. He thought he was better then his other four siblings, if not, the bravest. He led Leonardo to the closed off section of the sewer that Master Splinter had forbade them from entering and nearly turned he and his brother into an albino alligator's lunch. Raph thought it was all over, then came Leo, wrestling the large creature and then knocking it out from a pressure point.

**-Kimiko's POV-**

I looked up from the window as Raph finished his story, it reminded me of an experience I had with Leo that was almost the same. So I guess, it's my turn to try and get through to him. I passed by a teary-eyed Raphael and took a deep breath before sitting down on my knees in front of our brother. I could feel my body shake with anxiety while staring at Leo's beaten up face and almost lifeless eyes.

“Man does this brings me back……except I'd be the one stuck in bed while you would watch over me…” I spoke, a faint smile appearing from the memories, “You've always looked out for me and helped me when I'd somehow get myself stuck in a puzzling, stupid, or possibly life-threatening situation…Like that one time…We were playing Hide n' Seek…”

**-Flashback-Third Person POV-**

Little Leonardo was counting in a corner of a sewer tunnel near the lair, “Seven…eight…” While turtle tot Kimiko was busy searching for a place to hide. She sighed as she could hear her brother getting closer to twenty. Kim had yet to find a good spot that wasn't out in the open. Leo knew her usual spots, and the sewer tunnels didn't have many.

It was then, when she found a ladder that led up to a manhole cover. Master Splinter forbade them from going up to the surface, even though they've gotten out a few times in the past, Halloween being the only actual time they were allowed out. The surface probably had tons of good places to hide though. So, Kimiko swiftly climbed up to the surface as she heard Leo shout twenty. She then darted toward an open dumpster and hid inside.

She waited for what seemed like half an hour, the stench of the dumpster was starting to get to her when she heard footsteps come closer, _'Finally…_ ' The small turtle thought, until the lid opened and a bag of garbage fell flat on her face. Kimiko groaned loudly after the dumpster was closed again, she shoved the trash to the side and was about to return to the lair, but stopped when she heard a truck come into the alley.

Back in the sewers, Leonardo was starting to panic a little, the Little Turtle wasn't anywhere to be found. Then he found a manhole cover that wasn't on correctly and sighed heavily, “Thought I told her not to go up there…” He proceeded to climb to the surface. Leo lifted up the cover in time to find a garbage truck pick up a dumpster and empty its contents. His eyes widened and he gasped when he found Kimiko getting dumped into the truck.

Kimmy popped her head out from the sea of garbage as the truck backed out of the alley and drove off. “Oh…shell…” she mumbled before a shuriken hit the truck. Attached to it was a small rope and from the alley, Leo came riding on a piece of cardboard. The garbage truck came to a sharp stop as another car whizzed passed it and Kimiko came tumbling out. She shut her eyes tightly and braced for impact when Leonardo shot forward to catch her. Once she was in his arms, Leo kicked off the truck and ran for the closest manhole.

Leonardo set her down at the ladder and sat down next to her, taking a deep breath, “ Now, don't you ever do that again…”

“I won't…” Kim nodded and hugged him, “I'm sorry…”

Leo patted her on the head before smelling the stench of rotten trash,” Let's get you home…stinky.”

**-Flashback End-**

**-Kimiko's POV-**

“I'm pretty sure I had to scrub myself down for like a week to get the smell to go away,” I chuckled softly before looking down, my tiny smile dying off in the process, “I was young, stubborn, and stupid…and I was always determined to find and go my own way about things…I still kind of am…heh, To think if you weren't there to help me, I probably would've ended up….well you get the picture.” I shook my head and looked back up at Leo's sickly image with tears welling up, “ What I'm trying to say…is…is…let us help you now, let the sounds of our voices help guide you around whatever obstacle is blocking you from waking up…” I choked out a sad sob and stood up, “I…I think I'm done talking…I….” Then darted for the door, “ I need to be alone…” and ran for the woods.

I came across a lake that wasn't far from the farm house, it had a thin covering of ice from the winter weather. There I collapsed to my knees and wiped away the flying tears. I stared into the lake, at my own reflection. I could feel its cold, dark eyes boring into mine like daggers, as if it were telling me something. Then there was a shine of red in my weapons pouch, my Foot Clan crest. It was my pass key which allowed me access into different parts of the Foot HQ. I received it once I proved to that monster that I was an elite rank…

Then it came to me...Shredder still doesn't know I'm a turtle and the Kuro Katana never made contact after he was defeated the first time…and if there is a way to find my location all the way out here with this tiny, little badge, then that would just put everyone else in danger well…then we'd have no where to go…

I turned away from the water and clenched my fists, I can’t and won't let that nightmare happen again. This is something I needed to do personally and for Leo’s sake.

I waited until it got later at night and went straight into the barn to work. I climbed up to the top and placed my shell cell down and left it there. I can't have anyone track me down, they need their rest and won't be able to change my mind on what I have planned. With my shell cell, I placed my pink mask neatly to the side. Then, I ran off, back into the woods and left without any sort of traces.


	18. 17

(The image shown is the symbol for the Kuro Katana, you can see to K's mirroring each other)

The next morning came and Mikey went off to the barn since it was where Kimiko's shell cell signal was coming from. He had really good news that would really make her smile, “Man I really hope she’ll be happier than before when she was all doom and gloom...” He entered the small structure and searched for the turtle, “Yo Kimmy! You need to get to the house, trust me it’ll be totally worth it!” Mikey half whined as he got no response, “Kimmy? You here?” He tried to call her cell again and heard it ring at one of the large bales of hay on the spaces at the top , “There you are!” He grinned and jumped up only for him to drop his jaw in disbelief, “What the-” All that was there was her shell cell and her mask. Mikey gently picked her mask up and the phone before running back to the farm house, “ You guys!! Kimmy’s gone!”

“Yeah, she just needed some time to herself, last I checked.” Don said as he placed a cool cloth onto Leonardo’s forehead. His brother had thankfully woken up from his unconscious state and was on the way to recovering.

“But Kimiko almost never _**ever**_ leaves anywhere without her mask.” Mikey stated, holding the pink mask up.

“He’s right Don...” A weak Leo added as his eyes were on the piece of cloth, “It's her most valuable possession.”

Then Star joined in on the conversation, “If Kim left both of those behind then she has to be up to something-….You don’t think she-”

Splinter sighed heavily as he couldn’t sense her anywhere around the house, “I fear Kimiko has gone **back to New York** ….that stubborn daughter of mine.”

“And why would she do that?” Mikey asked as he set his sister’s things on the side table near the sofa, “Does she just have like a death wish or something?”

“She’s smart enough not to face the Foot on her own….” Don noted as he stood up, “I mean if she’s able to keep an entire warehouse hidden from us, then I say Kimiko's fine. She’s always been the independent type.”

**\-----**

It took a good two days before Kimiko finally reached the city, she switched from going by foot in the day time and hitching rides on top of trucks during the dark hours. She went straight to her hideout, watching out for any Foot ninja or Purple Dragons, and went down the elevator to the lair. Thankfully it wasn't discovered by the Foot due to Don's expertise with technology. The green-haired turtle immediately went to work on her own plans.

Kim grabbed a small vial from Donatello's lab and made a cut inside her palm to fill the vial with a small sample of her blood. She set it in the fridge to chill, her plan was to present ‘ _evidence_ ’ to the Shredder as Kuro Katana , she knew that he would stop at nothing to make sure all of his enemies were gone.

While Kim waited for the blood sample to get colder, she went to her bedroom where she took some pink fabric and turned it into a ninja mask. She used a blow torch to make burns and a rather jagged dagger to make rips along the fabric. The cut wound from before helped to put tads of blood to give an even better effect.

Kim bandaged her wound and then used a pair of scissors to take out a lock of her hair, which she burned until they became ashes which were then put into a bag once cooled enough. Kimiko then went down to her brother's computer, knowing they'd all be back eventually, she left them with secret access to Foot Headquarters, as well as a list of the different passwords that were used and changed every few minutes.

Kimiko went to go back to the hideout but paused as she noticed the Sword of Tengu, out in the open. She remembered the immense power it had, when it helped to dig up an artifact from the ocean. She also remembered how much she hated the damn thing... “Maybe I should- **No**.” She shook her head at the thought, “ He'd demand I give it to him the moment he notices it…”

Kim continued to the hideout, where she spent the rest of the day repairing her Kuro Katana armor and getting rest for the time to come. The next night, Kim geared up and left for Foot HQ with her twin black katana sharpened and ready.

She skipped getting to Shredder the long way and used her grappling hook to get to the balcony of the top floor. He was inside, out of his armor and speaking with the crippled Baxter Stockman. Kimiko mentally snorted at the scientist, every time she'd see him, he'd be minus a body part due to his past failures. She wanted to listen in on their conversation, so she used her ninja stealth to sneak up onto one of the support beams in the room.

Stockman held up a piece of red fabric that looked chewed up and burnt, it had what looked like small eye holes cut into it. Kimmy shook her head at his stupidity, ' _Nice try Stockboy, but Raphie had bigger eyes than that._ '

Stockman explained to the Shredder the results of his evidence that the turtles had burned to their deaths, he even showed a DNA scan that somehow matched that of a mutant turtle. Oroku Saki was impressed with the findings an gave Stockman access to analyze and make use of a metal suit that was in a glass showcase.

“And this is all that was found in the damage?” Sake questioned, his cold, emotionless face never ceasing as always.

Stockman mentally gulped, “I assure you-”

“ _No_.” Kimiko said in her dark, smooth, British voice and hopped down from her perch, “It isn't.”

“Well if it isn't Miss Kuro Katana…” The crippled scientist mumbled, “May I ask, where exactly have you been the whole time? It's not polite to keep out _humble Master_ waiting.”

Kimmy smirked under her mask, “Where I've been isn't important, what I have, however, is.” She pulled out her made up proof, “ I came to Miss O'neil's ruined shop shortly after you had left, to make sure everything had been found. A sample of blood, ashes, and the mask of one of the turtles. With the blood, I can begin research on how these creatures came to be. And perhaps, create something that would devastate your enemies, Master.”

An evil, arrogant smile formed along Saki's face, “Excellent work, Katana.” Stockman could be heard grumbling with envy, making Kimiko smirk even wider, “Begin working immediately. The true enemy has yet to make their move.”

“Hai.” Kuro said before leaving the room and going down to a floor four levels down from the top. “He is so easy to fool…it's almost fun.” She said to herself as she stepped out and used her pass key to enter through the security scan that led to her private room. Kim sat at a computer and began to make preparations for when she made her move. She wasn't going to strike just yet, as there were far too many Foot soldiers for her to take on alone.

Kim paused when one of the cameras she hid in Stockman's lab showed the scientist at work. It would seem that the Shredder was dumb enough to trust him with that armor piece from before. “I'll have to pay a visit once he's gone, maybe get a sample of that metal…if it's really as good as he thinks it is...” Kim thought, knowing that Stockman would leave eventually and whatever he was planning would either be for her, for stealing his credit, or for Hun, or Shredder.

The next week she was sent to withdraw all of their forces from the sewers, which made her plans seem all the more successful, clear out the ninjas and give her family access to the lair, worry-free. Then she needed to cut the power out for a few moments so that no one could view the ' _Monster Hunter_ ' story that just aired. It showed footage of a shadowy figure with a certain _**orange mask**_ running through the woods with some guy’s dog chasing him. If that **thing** were with her now, she'd beat him senseless for letting himself become exposed…Even when he's not there, he still finds a way to be a goof…

Later on that day, ' _Monster Hunter_ ' came on again, this time only showing Casey, dressed kind a like Groucho from Sesame Street, trapped in the creepy, Abigail Finn's (who is the show's lead hunter) truck. Falsely accusing her of kidnapping and ruining her fame. Whatever she did, Casey must have had a good reason for what he did…

Kimiko sighed with a warm smile, she was happy to see her family, even if it were on television. She really did miss them, her mind drifted in thought, wondering if they were alright, if Leonardo had woken up. The thought of the condition he was in before she left made her chest feel heavy as if a stone was on top of her. Her thoughts turned to anger as she remembered the monster responsible for what happened, making her priorities that much more important.

Kim then snapped out of her thinking when she got an incoming message from the Shredder with her next job. She groaned, “ Soon…soon it'll all be over…I hope.”


	19. 18

**-Three Months Later-**

Leading his family quietly through the sewers, a fully recovered Leonardo readied one of his new swords and poked his head down a corner of one of the tunnels. It was time they took back their home and paid a _‘visit_ ’ to the Foot HQ. He looked back to the manhole he came down from and gave a safe signal to his brother, Raphael who did the same for the others. They were nice and quiet until Casey failed to notice an empty can on the ground as he came through the shadows and hit it with his foot.

“Yo, you tryin’ ta lead tha Foot to our location?” Raph commented with a scowl as his friend shrugged.

“I’m tellin’ you, there’s no one down here!” The vigilante said as the other mutants, April, and Star followed behind.

Donatello sped up his walking as they came to what seemed like a dead end until he turned one of the pipes and turned a valve on the side to open up a number pad. He entered the number code which gained them all access to an untouched lair.

Star felt relief wash through her mind as she laid eyes upon their home, “It’s so great to be back home again.”

“You said it!!” Mikey said as he ran straight for the kitchen in search of his snack stash, “Where my babies at!?!?”

As they finally made themselves at home for a bit, Leo searched all around the lair, hoping to run into a certain Little Turtle. He let out a disappointed sigh as he didn’t find her anywhere. Leo placed his hand on the pink mask that was securely tied around his chest strap, “ You had better be alright….” He let out another low breath before joining his brothers on the ground floor.

“I don’t get it!” Raph said as he started to kick at a punching bag, “Last time tha sewers were crawling with Foot goons- and now? It’s like they up n’ vanished!”

“Maybe the Shredder thinks that there’s no one to search for?” Leo suggested as he held the bag in place as Raph punched at it.

“Guess being dead has its advantages...” Then the hothead got an idea from the thought, “Wait, you thinkin’ what I’m thinkin’?”

“Hey you guys!” Don shouted out loud to get there attention. He and April were at his computer and he had found a bunch of notes on the desk, “It’s in Kim’s handwriting!”

‘ _If you are reading this message, then you guys must be home already. Unfortunately it seems the Foot have yet to leave the sewers, Shredder must really be dead set on making sure we’re gotten rid of. I just hope you all have made safely and without detection. I am assuming you will most likely be headed to confront Shredder and put an end to this once and for all. Should anyone attempt to hack into the security of the Foot HQ, I have provided a list of the different passwords that are used at different times of the day. The Foot change this password every thirty minutes and have a set schedule for each day of the week._

_Well now I have some plans of my own to carry out, I guess I will meet you all real soon, hopefully…. ~~Even-~~_

_Until then,_

_Kimiko.’_

“Looking at the date this was written three months back,” Don said softly as he looked over the list of passwords. “Meaning she’s been waiting for us the whole time.”

The fearless leader looked over the note himself before speaking up, “Then we need to get moving with a plan.”

“Shredder believes that we have been vanquished, that would leave us with an advantage.” Splinter said as he stroked his beard in thought, “ It will be our key to success.”

“Alright, here’s what we’ll do.” Leo started, as they spent the rest of the night planning for this attack.

**-Kimiko's POV-**

Man I’m bored...I’m currently overseeing those working in the security center, it’s been so long since I’ve seen the others, which worries me. Like, what if something happened to them? What if Fearless is…-

“Kuro Katana.” I came back to reality when one of the technicians handed me a clip board with a status report for Oroku Saki that required an approved signature. I looked it over and signed it before handing it back to the technician. After he left, I slowly shook my head, I can’t let myself get distracted by those thoughts.

A few hours later, I was just as bored as ever and this stupid armor was starting to get a little stuffy….the only thing that's come up on the surveillance cams so far that isn't Foot Clan related was some food delivery, but that was it. Huh…I wonder why these people had chosen to become apart of an organization like this…when surely there are others that are way better. Guess there are some things the world will never figure out. Well I have, however, gotten a good look at the metal of that suit Stockman got his hands on. It was very sturdy and resisted what normal iron or steel wouldn't stand a chance against. I used what I had learned from it to make a little something special for Saki, once the time comes that is. Also, remember those red shuriken I picked up and never even used? I still have them, just haven’t found a good enough opportunity to use them….They’re bombs, just so ya know….

My attention is taken away from my work to an incoming message from Hun on one of the screens. The large, mountain of a man was on the ground floor when he flashed the camera at something that sparked my interest, or rather, put a prideful grin across my lips. The Battle Shell in all her radiant, green beauty, stopped in the center of a crowd of Foot ninja plus Hun and stood there without any movement for what seemed like minutes. Then, as soon as Hun opened the back of the truck, which was empty, it exploded on then, and that was my cue to move.

That was when my communicator beeped, I held it up as an angry Oroku Saki was on the screen, “Katana, what is happening down there?!”

“That’s what I’m going to find out-” Before I could speak further, my com loses all communication, “….Well that’s convenient.”

I put the device away and run down to each floor, looking for my family. Knowing them, they would have had to go through the nearest vent where the Battle Shell blew up. Which would lead to the hall way of the second level. By the time I arrived, there was a busted down door leading into a large room with Foot ninja on the ground. Did I miss the party?

“Where are the turtles?!” I spotted Hun interrogating a ninja who was barely conscious. The ninja slowly lifted a hand, pointing to an opened vent.

The large brute ran to it and looked through it, finding nothing and then turning and shoving me over to it, “Get up there n’ find them, we can’t let them get away!”

“I’ll see to it.” I said, taking out some tegaki, “But first of all-” While pretending to search for the climbing claws, I drop a smoke pellet and it activates. This little one, however, is made with knockout gas, “I don’t take orders from a lowly pest such as yourself.” As Hun falls back, I disappear into the vent and wall kick through to reach the top fast enough to avoid the gas.

Halfway through the vent, I start to hear yelling and fighting nearby which I follow. I was led to one of the storage rooms for the battle machines when my eyes lit up as I saw Donatello take out a….Foot Tech Ninja….Oh lovely…..but he had a fancy shuriken that electrocuted the ninja, which was great and all, until the other three vanished. I crawled out of the vent and quietly get into a position to where I can try strike them myself. That’s when a large tank, seemingly driving by itself, came toward the others, readying to fire at them. I quickly took out another smoke pellet, a normal one, and threw it at the tank. Then I dart toward the machine and jump on to the top, kicking the invisible ninja to the side before jabbing one of my red shuriken onto the control panel. I back flipped off of the tank as the bomb shuriken went off and destroyed it. I then drew my katana and aided my family in taking out the last of the Foot Tech Ninja. As the smoke cleared, I took off my hood and mask as I turned around to face them, “Well it’s about time you all-” My eyes widened as I froze and dropped my weapons, “Showed...up.” There he was, looking as if that horrible night never came, “L-leo...you..your.”

Fearless had a warm smile as he ran over, “ Kimiko! You’re alright, thank goodness.”

Strapped to his back was the Sword of Tengu, but I didn’t care about that at all, the fact that he’s right here and alive and and- I could feel the tears threatening to escape like as I wanted to just wrap my arms around him and just...never let go, but I resisted the feeling and put my hands up to stop him, “I think we should save the moment for when we’re in a better situation...but..” I flashed him a smile, “I’m just...I'm glad you’re alright yourself.”

“Is that Kimiko?!” Donatello had a headset on which he was clearly using to communicate with others outside of the building, most likely April, who I could hear from the small ear piece. “Do you have any idea how worried we were!?”

I sighed as I ran my fingers through my hair, “Look, I’m sorry for leaving and all...But right now, we don’t have time to sit around and chat. Not when Shredder’s up there waiting to get his shell handed to him...again.” I looked up to find a massive hole in the ceiling of the room we were in, leading to the floor above, “And that is oddly convenient...but that should take you all to the thirty-third floor..” I shuttered as I realized from the floor number, what exactly was up there.

“Wait, you’re not coming?” Mikey asked, as I heard him whine, “But you just came back to us...”

I shook my head before smiling toward the goofball, “I have something I need to grab of before I can join you all. It’ll be easier for me to get through if I’m on my own for the time being.”

“Well before you run off,” Leonardo held out my pink mask, which was tied up on his chest strap, “I believe this belongs to you, Little Turtle.”

I would've rejected it until after we were done here, but I accepted it with a nod, “You know, it doesn’t feel right not having this with me..thank you.” I covered my face with the metal mask and hood as the boys and Splinter jumped up to the floor above, “Be careful...That genetics lab up there is not a friendly place.” I stuffed my ninja mask in a small pack on my hip and left through a different exit that lead to a stairwell. I climbed up until I reached the fiftieth floor. It was where the small lab Shredder had let me use for my work all those months back was. I entered the room and resting upon a wall mount was a set of katana, in a sheaths made of white cloth. What’s so special about them? Well, one, I just made these bad boy and two- You’ll just have to keep reading~.

I attach the swords to my belt and check to make sure they’re fastened right. Now, remember those bomb shuriken I have, this is where I get they come in handy. I should point out that this is the tallest building in the city and the way to the top is incredibly long. So what do I do? I run back to the stairs and throw the explosive shuriken at the wall to create an opening to jump out of. Then, I use fire my grappling hook gun to the highest point it reach in the wall. After I swung up high enough, I swiftly release the first hook and load another to do the same until I was on the roof.

I snuck into the Shredder’s quarters and perched on the support beams as the boys and Splinter had just arrived. The Foot Elites made their appearance, along with Hun, who was just behind them. Then came Shredder from way in the back, “ I do not know how you managed to survive our last encounter, but I assure you, you will not survive this.” He ordered the Elites to attack as he stood in his spot.

That’s when I hopped down from my perch with my back facing the Shredder, “Kuro Katana, I thought you said they had perished!”

“And here I thought you couldn’t get any more stupid than you already were…Don't you know fake evidence when you see it? You know for the so called master of the Foot Clan you claim to be, you sure aren't very wise.” I grip the tsuka (handle) of one of my new katana and withdrew it, the edge of the sword glows a bright blue hue as electrical like energy ran through it, much like the Sword of Tengu or those swords that Guardian guy from before had. With the Elites being distracted with my brothers and Hun busy with Splinter, I used the opportunity to charge straight for Shredder. I threw forth a smoke pellet with some ordinary shuriken in attempts to blind him. Right as I swung the sword, Shredder immediately catches it with the back of his armored fist and when it does, tiny sparks of blue start bouncing off of it. 

I felt heard him make a grunt as he yanks his arm back, when he does, I jump back to the middle of the room, as the smoke dissipates. “What is the meaning of this?!”

"You're so blinded by your arrogance and desires, that you fail to see past the disguise as you allowed yourself to see and believe only things that meet your demands." I couldn’t help but chuckle, “You know, when we’re through with you, I’m probably gonna miss messin’ with your head.” I took the chance to remove my mask and throw it and the cloak to the side before pulling out the pink ninja mask and tying it around my face. Snickering once more as I looked back up at him, the smoke all cleared up, “The Way of Invisibility works wonders if you ask me. When used correctly, skills such as illusion, trickery, and manipulation can be the most powerful weapons a ninja can have. Much more potent than any blade or poison.”

“You...you’re a **turtle?**!” He roared and balled his fists as he shook with rage. "All this time?!"

I pointed to myself with a broad smirk, “The name’s Kimiko,” Then drew my other sword, twirling both of them with pride, “And these swords here were specially made to kick your shiny, metal butt.” Then my smirk turned into an icy glare as I stared Shredder down, gripping the handles of my swords tightly, “You forced us from our lair, burned down the home of an innocent, threatened the lives of many who did not comply with you, and nearly killed someone I hold ** _very_** dear to me….It’s unforgivable...I’ve done enough of your dirty work in attempts to protect those I love...But now….” There was nothing but anger and hatred boiling within me as I pounced toward Shredder with my swords raised, aiming to strike him, their electrical edges ready to slice through that armor, “It ends **here**!!”

What I didn’t count on, was what happened next.

The building suddenly shook around us as from beneath me, a giant robotic arm comes through and grabs a hold of me as the rest of the body emerges. My brothers are then tossed aside along with the other ninja as I struggled to get myself out of its tight hold. The one controlling this mecha was none other than…

“Baxter Stockman!?” Came the Shredder, as the mad scientist grinned evilly from the head of the robot.

“In the flesh.” Stockman cackled as he stared down with malicious intent, “So to speak.”


	20. 19

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter's a long one!

****

**-Third Person-**

"Stockman...." The Shredder started as he glared at the scientist, "You will pay for your false report of the turtles' demise!" Then he got to thinking, "However, you can redeem yourself by destroying them!" He pointed to the turtle who was in the strong grip of one of Stockman's mecha arm, "Starting with the _Kuro Katana_!"

"You arrogant, self-important fool!" Stockman spat, "I didn't make this suit to help you, no. I made it to destroy you! For every punishment you inflicted upon me, I will bring back ten fold!" As he was busy rambling to the Shredder, Kimiko attempted to free her arms as she brought her new katana down to try and burn through the metal of Stockman's suit. However, she was then yanked up to his eye level, "And as for you!" Stockman's eyes widened before his face scrunched in pure disgust, "You're the same pest who's been stealing the credit that should have rightfully been mine this whole time!?"

Kimiko snickered, "Aww, is Stockboy ma-AAD-" Stockman squeezed his robotic hand tightly as he slammed her into the ground before bringing her back up. She dropped her swords as she felt her armor cracking in his tight grip.

"You have made a fool of me for the last time, all of you!!" Stockman roared as he open fired missiles and lasers from the mecha. He shot the ground where the Foot Elites were standing, causing them to fall down to the floors below. After, he knocked an incoming Shredder back into the wall of the palace. All while squeezing the life out of the younger turtle.

"I can't....breathe..." Kimiko cried out in a weak, raspy voice. Just as her body started to feel numb.

Raphael readied his sai as he tried to go for the arm of the mecha, " Let my little sister go, you stupid bot!"

Stockman chuckled darkly, raising the hand once more, "You want her that badly? Fine by me." Then proceeded to throw Kimiko into the hothead, both turtles smacking into a wooden pillar.

Raph shook his head from the impact as Michelangelo came to their aid, kicking a falling beam away from them, "You both okay?"

"Fine." The red-masked turtle said as their sister rolled off to the side, "Kimmy?"

Kimiko took a deep breath before getting back up, the armor around her arms and torso had completely shattered into small pieces that fell off. "I'm fine!" She scanned the room as the scientist was busy with both Hun and Shredder. Then rushed in to grab her fallen katana before regrouping with her family.

They watched as Shredder leaped to slash through the glass dome protecting Stockman's face. However, it was proven a failure due to it being made of a self healing material, thus indestructible. The mecha arm extended forth to grab the Shredder before smacking him side to side into walls and finally throwing him to the ground.

"No way...it took everything we had to take out Shredder n' Hun the last time..." Raph commented as they stared down the Shredder who wasn't moving.

"Uh..C-can we go home now?" Mikey asked, gulping at the site.

"And now.." Stockman turned to face the turtles, "For the freaks who got in the way of every plan I had, who robbed me of the fame of being the foremost criminal and scientific prodigy known to man!" One of the four arms of the mech fired a flamethrower at the turtles, who jumped out of the way, " You will not leave this place alive!!"

"Don't think so, pal!" Mikey held up one of his nunchucks as Kim used it to spring herself up in the air. Spinning herself like a corkscrew as the edges of her katana lit up with power running through them as she came down. Stockman had raised his robotic arm to defend the body as the swords burned a line through the palm of the hand. Blue sparks flew off as the blades made contact with the metal of the mech. Before he had a chance to grab her again, she jumped back to distance herself from him.

The man laughed at the girl's attack, "Foolish Katana, do you really think these slightly upgraded swords stand a chance against my superior armor?!"

"Given that they're made of the same material, not really, but they did serve as a great distraction!" Leonardo and Donatello threw grappling hooks around the legs of the mecha as Raph hit it with a jump kick, causing Stockman to fall back down the hole that went straight down to the bottom of the building. "Now then," Kimiko eyed the Shredder, who was back on his feet, "Where were we?"

Just as the opposing sides were about to clash, Stockman came right back up through the use of the booster on the mecha's back, "You insufferable nitwits! Doctor Baxter Stockman, is not so _easily_ dismissed!"

"Nor can you ever just shut up, apparently.." Mikey muttered as Leonardo sprang up and cut off one of the robotic arms, this one had a machine gun on it.

"No!! My arm!" The scientist cried out as he began to panic, "It..it's nothing, just a minor inconvenience-" As he was starting to lose it, Kimiko sprinted forward and whipped her katana around, slicing a leg off of the mecha and causing Stockman to lose his balance. After, the turtles and Splinter kicked him back as he fell through the windows and into the streets below.

"Finally!!" The younger turtle shouted as they turned around to face Shredder for the third time, "Let's try this again-" Right before she could finish her statement, the windows on the opposite side from the turtles broke open as once again, Stockman emerged, laughing in their faces. " _Seriously!?_ "

" _How many times do we have to teach this lesson old man?!_ " Mikey shouted angerly, quoting Spongebob of all things.

Leo looked to his youngest brother with a risen brow, "Are you for real...?"

"What?!" Mikey backfired, spinning his weapons as Stockman rambled about how brilliant his mecha was, "I'm under a lot of pressure here!" The mad scientist shot more missiles at the ground, barely hitting a few of them as they were blown away. "There's gotta be a way to stop this oversized toaster!"

"Perhaps we can pull his plug?" Donnie suggested, then looked to his sword wielding brother , "Leo, the exo-suit's power supply, try to get to the radium power cells on his back!"

"On it!" Leonardo ran forward, his swords ready. The leader in blue zig-zagged a path before jumping over mecha and somersaulting to cut off the main power supply from the back. Stockman's exo-suit crashed on the ground as Leonardo landed on his feet. However, Stockman just stood back up, " How many times does it take to put an end to this guy!?"

The scientist laughed once again, " In addition to the central battery of my suit, _each_ of the arms of my suit has its _own back-up power source!_ "

Donnie walked to the robotic limb that Leo had cut off earlier, "So you're saying this arm should _still_ be fully functional then?" Don questioned as the two turtles he aimed it with a cheeky grin as Stockman became aware of the error he had just made.

"Fire at will, Donatello!!" Kimmy shouted, pointing the end of her sword toward the mecha as it was sent sky high, and blown into smithereens. She shared a short victory cheer with the others before she and her brothers were kicked down by a surprise Shredder.

"Now we can get back to the real fun." Shredder said, chuckling evilly.

He then aimed for Michelangelo who was just getting back up. Shredder attempted to kick him again, but failed as Splinter came to defend him. " You will have to go through me, before my son, Shredder." Both glared at each other before clashing in battle. The mutant rat held his walking stick over him as Shredder's talons aimed to pierce him. However, Saki proved to be quicker, and spun around to perform a roundhouse kick on the rat. Splinter grunted as he was sent flying and out of the window.

The turtles gasped as their father fell, "Master Splinter!!" Kimmy cried as Leonardo took his grappling hook and dove down to retrieve the rat. Anger flushed through her as she made a bee line for the Shredder. She cried out in her rage as she swung her swords at him, only to have his talons block them. But for Kimmy, her swords had barely sparked at all as they made contact. ' _No! They must have worn down during our fight with Stockman! I thought they were stronger than this!'_

"You think these swords can stop me!?" Shredder snarled as he thrust his arms up to tangle the swords between his talons, Kimiko's face inches away from their tips.

In the corner of her eyes, Kimmy mentally smirked as other three turtles were coming up fast behind him,"While it was the original intention when designing them," She let go of the swords and slid herself past him from under the gap between his legs, "Their still just as useful as any distraction!" Kim jumped up and joined her brothers as they kicked him hard enough to send him through another window, into the courtyard of the palace.

The four followed the armored man as he got up quickly and proceeded to take each of them on one by one. Shredder moved his body to the side as Raphael leaped toward him with his sai and roundhouse kicked him to the side. Then he jumped to perform a split kick on both Michelangelo and Donatello. He was making it seem like child's play to their eyes.

Thankful for the fact that she still had a second set of katana strapped to her belt, Kimiko withdrew them and charged in for a hit right after Shredder landed from his previous attack. Only for Shredder to move to the side and connect the back of his heel with her lower back. As Kim hit the ground but as she rolled herself over, she quickly held up a sword to block Shredder's incoming talons.

The man was so focused on the girl, that he failed to see a blast of sonic energy coming for him at full speed and knocking him into a small pond in the courtyard. "Leave my family alone, Shredder!"

"Leo!" Kim cheered as she sprung up and ran over to Leonardo as he stood in front of the set of stairs that led into the palace. In his hand was the Sword of Tengu, the glove as well. She paused as a certain rat wasn't with them, "Where is...?'

The blue-masked turtle looked away from her with sad eyes, "He's breathing...but he's hurt pretty bad." Kimiko was about to say something, but they were cut off as they jumped out of the way of a blast from a wild [razor jet](https://vignette.wikia.nocookie.net/tmnt/images/b/b4/Razor_jet.png/revision/latest/scale-to-width-down/165?cb=20101127235215). In the skies, were a group of foot soldiers that Shredder had called for to aid him in battle.

**-Kimiko's POV-**

After running from the blast, I located the jets in the sky and ran toward them. I sheathed my katana and brought out the grappling hook gun. I fired the gun at the bottom of one of the razor jets before jumping off the roof after the hook was lodged inside. Then I swung myself hard enough to reach the pilot's level, kicking him out and taking his seat. I released the hook and put my gun away, taking out a few more red shuriken to throw at other jets. I slowed down the jet I was in as two foot soldiers raced ahead of me. That was when I tossed the stars and flew my jet higher into the sky as the others blew up before coming back down.

Below, on another rooftop, was a familiar figure, the Guardian Jedi guy from before...and his friend of his as well? He was communicating on some form of holographic screen, but I couldn't exactly tell from so high up..I looked back up before ducking swiftly as I avoided a sudden shot from an opposing Foot goon. He, however, soon ate sweet dirt as Raphael flew by on a jet and fired back at the enemy.

"Pay attention will ya! Preferably before ya get fried!" He shouted as he zipped past with a couple more ninja on his tail. Back down at the Foot HQ roof, Donnie was helping us take out the rest of the jets with the dismembered arm of Stockman's exo-suit as it was still functional. Which was a very good thing because we needed to get back down there and help take on Shred Head. Wait, can't we just ram one of these things into him? I smirked as an idea formed in my head. I floored the gas on the jet and jumped out as it rammed into the back of the two remaining ones that had Foot ninja in them. Then I took the grappling gun and shot it into the razor jet that Raph was on. I swung myself onto the back of it, standing on the edge of the jet as my brother drove. "The shell are you doing, Kimmy?" He snapped as I put the gun away for the second time.

"Keep going at full speed, I've got a plan." I searched the roof for the Shredder and found the tin man confronting Leonardo. Behind him, his Elite Ninja appeared and looked as if Stockman never happened. We gotta do this...now, "Hover over to Shredder and when I say jump-"

Raph looked back at me before turning the jet in Shredder's direction, "Kim..."

Just as we were almost directly above the target, " **Jump!** " The two of us jumped off as the Foot soldier behind us crashed into the jet. As I came down, I kicked away one of the Elites before he could attack Leonardo. Down from above, the remains of the jets came crashing down, onto the Sword of Tengu. Unfortunately, Oroku Saki jumped out of the way...and I saw it go so well in my head...

"You are one crazy turtle, Kim," Raph said as he came into the fight, "In a good way..."

"Guys, what are you doing,"Leo asked as we had our backs to each other's while facing the Elites, "I can finish this-"

Raphael chuckled as he kicked a ninja back, " Yeah, but where's the fun in that?"

"It's better if we fight as a team, Leo." I drew my swords again and blocked an Elite's incoming trident, "Besides, it's high time we got back at them for everything that went on in April's apartment..." And for what happened to you, Leo...I will never **ever** forget that.

As I held up the trident, Donnie came and knocked him aside with his bo staff, " We're family."

"We finish this together!" Came Mikey who wrapped his nunchucks around the Elite wielding a battle axe before kicking him hard in the gut. "Besides, cable's out in the lair."

One of the Elites, the leader of the group as I recall, vanished and suddenly appeared right behind, his arm snaked around both of mine , preventing me from using my katana. All while the edge of his twin-bladed sword was literal inches from my throat, "You were an Elite, Kuro Katana...." There was a wall directly behind us so none of the boys could really jump into help. They were also dealing with the other three Elites. "But here you are, helpless and weak.."

"Let her go!" Came Donatello who approached us with Michelangelo, their weapons ready to attack.

"Take one more step and the freak gets it. Now,unless you surrender..." The Elite warned as he brought the blade closer to my neck. "I won't do too much.."

"You know he's right..." I looked down to the ground as my hair covered my face, "I am weak..." I softly chuckle as I think of all the decisions I've made up until this point, "I always think I can do things that are way out of my capacity...when really....I'm just a stupid turtle who only wants to protect her family...." I carefully lean my head forward, the blade touching my throat, "But you know what," Then I throw my head back hard and hit the Elite square in the face, causing him to drop his guard as I spun around to bring my fist to his head. "There's nothing more I'd rather be than that!" Finally, I rose my leg and brought it down harshly, letting my heel to connect his side, knocking the wind out of him.

"Well...you certainly had that in the bag." Mikey commented with a goofy laugh.

"Just cuz I'm stupid, don't mean I can't kick shell." I said and I stretched my arms as we regrouped, " Alright...let's finish this once and for all.."

We found Shredder digging through a pile of rubble from where the razor jet crashed, "It's over Shredder!" Leo shouted as he looked up at us and laughed.

"Fool, your forget that this is my fortress!" Shredder said as he turned an orb that was connected to a dragon statue. That opened the floor near us that brought up a small army of Foot ninja.

Mikey groaned as that meant the fight was dragging on even more, "Give me a break..."

"No one said it was gonna be easy..." Raph noted as we prepared for more fighting.

Right before we did anything, that Jedi Guardian dude from before hopped down in front of us, "Easy? No. But perhaps we can be of some assistance." He said, very calmly I might add.

"And...who is we?" Right after I asked, seven more guys, nearly identical to the Jedi dude, came to his side, each of them drawing their lightsaber swords. "So uhh....does this mean the Jedi Council is real?" If so, where's my invitation?

"We must not let the Shredder get the Sword of Tengu! We will hold these ninja off, you deal with Shredder." Was all Guardian dude said as he and his Jedi friends wrecked house on the Foot ninja.

"Right. Let's go!" Leo shouted, the other three and I followed him to where Shredder was. The guy was still searching for the stupid sword.

I smirked as he distracted with searching, "Fool's left himself wide open!" I clench my hands tightly around my katana as I dart straight for Shredder as his back is turned away. As soon as I jumped to strike, the bastard turns around the Sword of Tengu in hand, it's power emanating around him. That was he laughed darkly and swung the sword in my direction as the shockwave hits me with full force. I dropped my weapons as I felt agonizing, burning pain as I was blown back into a wall. I tightly shut my eyes as I could still feel the pain through my body as it dropped to the ground. I meant what I said I was stupid....cuz holy shell it hurts..

I slowly push myself back up despite the pains, there's no way I can afford to sit out. I looked up as Shredder was holding up the Sword of Tengu, "Ahh, the power! I had almost forgotten! The Sword of Tengu! The sword with which I laid villages to waste, brought castles to ground, vanquished armies! The sword that I used to conquer Japan and give power to the Tokugawa clan! **IT IS MINE ONCE MORE!** " I had just started standing up when he swung the blade for the second time, this time hitting the boys and myself. As if getting hit once was bad, but a second time in a row...I lied against the wall I was next to, now I really felt down and out..

I carefully turned to the side and watched as Leonardo had managed to get the Sword of Tengu from Shredder's grasp. The Shredder on the other hand, had Leo's katana as the two stared each other down, waiting for the moment to strike. Then, both leaped in the air toward each other, clashing once before landing on their feet. It was so fast, all you could hear was the sound of metal hitting. Both ninja stood silently, before Shredder's head fell clean off his body and rolled to the side as the rest came tumbling down. Leonardo on the other hand had a minor injury.

Again, ignoring my body's protesting, I stood up and wobbled toward Leo as we stared down at the Shredder's corpse as the Guardians vanished. I registered everything that had just happened..I....I...was it really... _over_? "I...is it done...is he really..gone? For good?"

"Kimmy, no bad guy can ever survive decapitation. It's like, the ultimate killing blow." Mikey said as he handed me my swords before letting me up on his back so I wouldn't have to walk so much.

"There's still one thing left to do, make sure that the Foot can no longer have access to this building for anything ever again." Leo said as Donatello led us over to the mecha arm that was still active.

"Stockman's radium power cells," Don started as he hooked some wires to the arm and ran it to a generator nearby, "Coupled with the Sword of Tengu, should fry most of the power in the building." As soon as he hooked up the wires, he turned to give a thumbs up to Fearless, " Let er' rip, Leo!"

Leonardo readied the Sword of Tengu before stabbing it into the robotic arm as it destroyed the power in the building. Then he led us to the side of the building where Master Splinter was resting...only to discover that, aside from his walking stick, he was gone. "Wait, I don't get it...I swear I left him right here..."

Conveniently enough, there was a Foot chopper sitting right in front of us, which we had taken to get away from the building and the cops who were just now arriving below. Mikey sat me down on one of the seats before sitting down himself. The boys were conversing with each other on what could've happened..I tried to listen, but I felt my own eyes failing me as I was too exhausted to keep up with what's going on...Master Splinter couldn't be..you know, I doubt that's the case....

But the Shredder was no more, that much was clear....but that doesn't mean I don't have concerns...

* * *

Bonus Clip-

<https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qP3ude-l0O0>

This was one of the my personal favorite moments in the series x3 it's just SO good <3


	21. 20

****

**-Kimiko's POV-**

I opened my eyes to familiar walls, my room...I sat up from my bed to find that I was still in my armor, well, what was left of it...ironically the Foot Clan chestplate was still intact...along with most of the bottom half of the armor...But one thing's for certain....I _seriously_ need a shower.

I left my room and surveyed the lair as I jumped down to the ground floor. Either no one was awake or they were out on patrol. My body was sore from all the fighting a day or so ago and ended up getting my shell kicked. I can still feel the burns from the Sword of Tengu..

After entering the bathroom and stripping myself of my armor, I step into the tub and let the hot water rain down on me. Star and April had found scented soaps that were all naturally made, meaning no chemicals that would irritate my skin. After relying on stuff that had no scent at all, it's really nice to be able to smell good for once. Although, a stealthy ninja should not rely on smelling nice as it could result in a rather fast detection...

Then it dawned on me, the Shredder was **gone** , for good. I still couldn't believe it, was he really gone? Well, as Mikey said, no one could survive decapitation...But after months of working for that monster...long, exhausting, painful months of work that I wasn't proud of, watching and waiting for the moment to strike, and worrying about the safety of everyone else..All that stress and regret and hatred that was eating me alive...was it all finally over with, _truly_?

From my understanding, Shredder was the biggest crime lord in the city, controlling nearly everything that went on. Now that he's out of the picture, that could spell trouble brewing with the other criminal factions of New York. There's the Mob, the Purple Dragons, and the rest of the Foot Clan...Although...there's also another branch of Foot Ninja in Japan... I shook my head as I rinsed away the soap and turning off the water.

It's only been like what, a day or two after the big showdown? Surely news doesn't travel at the speed of light, and with the power being shut down completely it couldn't possibly reach Japan. I shook my head again, I shouldn't dwell on that right now, the most important matter is Master Splinter. Last I recall, he had went missing the night after we defeated Shredder, Leonardo said he was too injured to move...so someone or something had to have taken him..

After drying off, I wrap myself in a fluffy, pink robe that had a hood on it. I scooped up my armor and walked out of the bathroom. The lair was still quiet, what time is it even? I shrugged and jumped up to the second floor of the lair to put the armor away in my room. I don't think I'll ever need it again, but something in my head keeps telling me to hang onto it, like a fragment of the past. Master Splinter has the empty canister that had the ooze that mutated the he and the boys...myself included most likely.

I get dressed in my typical pink skirt with a metal belt. On my shoulders, go my gray pouches that hold small weapons such as shuriken and smoke pellets, they also hold first aid and smaller essentials. I've got a second pair of these pouches for my legs. I put on the rest of my ninja gear on and finally, tie on my mask. Then grab my katana and tie them to the sides of my belt. I look into my mirror to check my appearance, I notice that my hair extends a bit past my shoulders now...kinda don't wanna cut it, then again, it could get in the way, I'll think about it...

I left the room and jumped back down to the ground floor. Leonardo had just come back into the lair. "You're finally awake, you were out like a lamp for two days." He joked before smiling warmly, "How are you feeling, Kim?"

"Like shell...where is everyone else?" I asked, following him to the couch.

"We all split up to search for Master Splinter, haven't had any luck yet, but I came back down to check up on you." He then sighed and shook his head. "I just don't understand how or what happened..."

I could tell he was exhausted from from searching all around. This has to be hitting him a lot harder than with the rest of us. Out of the five of us, he's closest with Master Splinter. Knowing him, this is all he's focused on within the past couple of days. "We're gonna find him, Leo, I know we will. We just need to do some deeper digging. Who knows, he could be right in plain sight, after all, New York is a big city."

"That's true," I watched as he paced back and forth in front of the televisions, "The thing is we've searched in every junkyard, almost every alley way, and even the old lair...I just can't figure out where else he could be."

"Then perhaps we should retrace our steps.." I looked up in the air as I thought about it, "Let's see, you placed him on a roof nearby the rooftop of the Foot Headquarters, and he was there for the remainder of the battle..." I couldn't exactly think much due to a throbbing headache as my body was still sore, " Let me think on that some more when my head doesn't feel like it's being drilled into..." I turned my gaze to him with a small smile, "I'm going to make some tea, would you like some? "

"That's sounds nice actually, yes please." I nodded and turned for the kitchen, "But before you go", Leo pulled me into his arms, "I missed you, Little Turtle...Three months is an awful long time without you."

At first I felt surprised, but I slowly nodded as I hugged him back, " I missed you too," I tightened my hold on him with my head resting against his plastron. "I didn't want to leave the farmhouse, but I wasn't about to take anymore chances and let Shredder find us a second time..." My mind flashed back to when he came crashing into April's apartment to seeing his lifeless figure laying on the couch at the farmhouse. I bit my lip as I felt hot tears threatening to fall, " I was...I was afraid you weren't going to ever wake up...it was like a nightmare I couldn't wake up from.."

Fearless pulled away and wiped away my tears with his thumb as he looked into my eyes, "But I'm here now, and-"

"I'm home~!!" The two of us immediately stepped back as Mikey's voice boomed into the lair.

Leo sat down on the couch quickly and rested half of his face in his hands while looking at the TV as an ongoing News report was being broadcasted. "About that tea..."

"R-right..I-I should get to it!" I stuttered and made a dash to the kitchen, my face turning a deep maroon color. I shook my head, what is wrong with me? Leonardo's my best friend and we hug each other and talk all the time. Maybe it's just because I haven't seen him in so long, that must be it!

I placed the tea kettle on the stove after filling it with water and waited for it to boil. Then I browsed through the collection of teas that we have and picked the green tea. Green tea is good for reducing stress, something I think Leo could use.

"Kimmy! You're awake!" Came an obnoxiously loud Michelangelo who came in with Star, and went straight for the fridge, "You were out for like two days straight!"

"So I've been told." I responded, adding the tea leaves into the kettle, "You'd be tired too if you worked nonstop for three months straight."

"Then how did you function during that time?" Star asked as she brought out a couple mixing bowls from the cabinet, along with some ingredients for whatever she's making, "Did you even eat at least?"

Mikey snorted a laugh, "Is that why you kinda stank on the way home?" To which I responded by throwing a lemon at his face. Unfortunately, the orange-masked turtle caught it and joked further, "Well you know what they say, _when life gives you lemons, make lemonade_!"

Trying my hardest not to clock him upside the head, I simply smiled to our human friend, "Well you see, working with other criminals, I constantly had to keep my guard up. I bathed myself whenever I could when I'd go on jobs. As for food, I practically survived on shakes like Ensure or energy bars, not the greatest diet, but it sufficed. I may have also drank a ton of Red Bull just to stay focused."

"Kimiko, that's horrible." Star spat as she mixed milk and beaten eggs into one bowl with flour, sugar, and other dry ingredients.

I shrugged as I poured the green tea into one blue and one pink mug, "You do what you can to survive....But I agree that all that taurine messed me up a few times...." I moved the kettle to the back burner as the rest of the tea was for whoever wanted some.

The blonde huffed as she mixed whatever she was making, "Well I'm making dinner and you're going to eat something real, Kimmy."

"Alright then. " I said, carrying the mugs carefully out of the kitchen. I didn't add sugar to the tea as Leo and I don't drink it sweet, "Real food would be really nice actually."

"Star's cooking is really good!" Mikey commented loudly as he was _literally_ making lemonade at the counter next to the fridge. "You'll love it, I know I do!"

As I returned to the couch, I handed Leonardo his mug and sat down next to him as our other two brothers, plus April had come back from topside. "Any luck?"

Donnie shook his head, "It's a negative...we've checked nearly everywhere."

I listened as he was kind of repeating what Leonardo had said earlier. I nodded while sipping on my tea, thinking deeply as to what could have happened, "As I began earlier, the last time Splinter was seen was during the big showdown at Foot Headquarters."

"Right, but we already searched that buildin' clean," Raph said as he was off punching one of the training dummies, "Even the genetics lab, but no luck there." Then he growled, hitting the dummy harder, "Someone out there has ta' have him! Which is why we gotta start diggin' deeper!"

"How? Last I checked, the public doesn't exactly take kindly to five mutant turtles." Leo questioned, setting his mug on the coffee table, " It isn't wise to take an approach like that."

"Perhaps if we asked nicely?" Came a wild Michelangelo who plopped on the arm chair and started up a game on the GameCube.

Ignoring the stupid remark, I brought my mug to my lips as I pondered, ' _last I checked we do have some friends amongst-_ ' I spit out a mouthful of tea as I had come to a realization, " **I got it**!"

"Easy there Kimmy!" Leo said as he scooted away from me as Mikey laughed at the epic spit take.

"Shut up!" I said as I set the mug down and hopped up from the couch, "Anyway, the only other people who know of our existence aside from April, Casey, and Star, is the _Jedi Council!_ "

"The Jedi Council...?" April rose a brow at my choice of words, "You sure about that one?"

Don shook his head as he handed me my shell cell, which I thought was lost, "What she probably means are the Guardians."

"Same thing." I paced around as I scratched my chin while thinking, " But, the night before our first battle with the Shredder...I found them watching you boys from afar, judging what you were going to do about the offer you had been given. Then came the night of the actual battle, when whom I suppose is the leader came and helped Leo take on a group of Foot Ninja. Right after that, he vanished..we never saw them again until the night we defeated Shredder. I remember that before they officially joined to help us, they were communicating with someone else. I'm not entirely sure who they were talking to and I'm also not sure I trust it. But what I find more interesting is that when the battle ended, they vanished completely without a trace, which was just moments before Splinter went missing."

"That makes sense," Leo commented, he placed a fist in his other hand, "The Guardians must have some connection to this. But the thing is, we don't know where to even find them."

"Well it was made very clear that they were long time enemies of the Shredder..." I noted.

"Then it looks like we'll have to lure the Guardian into questioning. We can lead them to the Foot Headquarters, have them think Shredder's back." Leo said before looking to me, " You think you can work that Way of Invisibility magic of yours?"

I grinned and rubbed my hands together in a rather sinister way, " ** _Always._** "


	22. 21

After spending the next day and a half preparing this plan to lure one of the Guardians, Kimiko found herself bored in the Shredder's broken down palace. She was sitting in a makeshift throne, made from a cheap beach chair, with one of her legs resting over the other. Kim rested her head in her hand as they awaited the Guardian. She had made a helmet that resembled her old boss's, as well as a set of arms that went up to her shoulders. Attached to the shoulder armor and running down to her knees was a torn up dark purple curtain that was used for a cape. On one hand, she made talons out of ordinary kitchen knives. Strapped to the sides of her belt were her black steel katana, and in the middle of the belt, was her card key that was in the shape of the Foot symbol.

"I don't remember Shredder havin' a purple cape..." Mikey said from up in the rafters as Raph snickered at her appearance.

The younger turtle shrugged, "Perhaps in another universe Mikey, besides, I'm all out of black cloth for another cape..." She sighed heavily as she had been sitting there for the past couple of hours, "You'd think this would go a lot faster considering this is one of the tallest building in New York..." Kim looked up at Donatello, "You _did_ turn on the power for the giant Foot symbol on the front right?"

"It's blinking, but should be stable. Maybe he just hasn't seen it...or have gone outside at all." The purple-masked turtle said," The Guardian is a mystery himself, he could have gone anywhere.."

Kimiko growled before slamming a fist down in frustration and standing up from the chair, "Gee that _really_ helps..." Then started to march toward the courtyard, "Seriously, this better work-"

"Shredder! _**Alive**_?!" Busting into the palace before she was even a few feet away from the chair, was the leader of the Guardians with a foul look of horror on his face.

' _Well that was fast..._ ' Quickly getting into character, Kim chuckled darkly and rose her makeshift talons up. The Guardian charged toward her with his sword. She retaliated by drawing her own sword, blocking the Guardian's. He gasped in shock as the light from the blade lit up Kimiko's face, "Surprise surprise."

The Guardian backed away as the other four turtles dropped down, he moved his sword to the side as he spoke, "What is the meaning of this?"

"We're not here to fight." Leonardo said with his hands up.

"If you leave a trap for me, then be prepared to fight." The man snarled, his weapon still active.

"We're looking for answers, that's all." Donatello noted as Mikey snuck a small green, device on the Guardian's sword.

Still on his guard, "Look elsewhere." Was all the Guardian said.

Raph grit his teeth as he put away his weapons, "Our Master's missing, and we intend to find him."

The blue-haired man silently looked at the five mutants before putting his sword away and walking toward the exit, "I cannot help you."

"Look pal! I didn't get all dressed up for nothing." Kimiko started as she stepped in front of the man, " That's not just our Master out there, that's our **father**! You once called yourself our ally, the least you can do is tell us if he's alright."

The Guardian stood just as quiet as before looking to the side, "I...cannot say." Then threw down a smoke bomb, disappearing from their sight.

As the man left, Kimiko threw off all of the cheap knock off armor she had on her, "Finally, this stuff is super uncomfortable!"

Leonardo looked to his youngest brother who was grinning like a dork, "Mikey?"

"One turtle tracker planted to go!" He said, his grin widening as he had succeeded.

Donatello pulled out the tracking device that the turtle tracker gave a signal to, "Man this guy's fast! He's already nearing 4th.."

"Then let's go!" Kim shouted while putting her swords away and making a mad dash for the exit. She jumped off the roof with her grappling hook gun out and swung across buildings as if she were Spiderman before going back to running across rooftops.

"Where's the fire Speedy!?" Mikey shouted from behind as he and his brothers stayed close to Donnie.

Kimmy turned around and stuck her tongue out as she ran backwards, "You'd be antsy too if you had to sit still for a few hours." The turtles chased the turtle tracker down, tailing behind the Guardian until the signal disappeared, behind a large office building. "Any guesses as to why our Jedi friend made a stop here of all places?"

"It's just an office building..." Leo said, shrugging his shoulders, "I don't get it.."

"I mean the Shredder's headquarters was n' big office building too, yet it was all kinds of trouble." Raph noted.

Donatello dug into his bag of tools and pulled out a small remote-controlled turtle that had a camera for a face, "Let's find out for sure. Mikey, we're gonna need the Battle Shell."

The younger brother nodded sharply, "Will do!", Then made for the manhole that was conveniently in the alley they were just in.

As the others waited, Don readied the turtle cam, ensuring that it was working properly and connecting to the controller. Then, Kimiko started to climb up to the roof of one of the buildings they were next to.

"Wait," Leo called as she was near the top, "What are you doing?"

"I'm bored, so I'm going to get a better look at this place." The pink-masked turtle said plainly, "Besides, Mikey's gonna be a few minutes."

Leonardo sighed and shook his head, "Just don't do anything too reckless, not until we know more about what we're dealing with."

"That's what Raph's for." Kim spat from above.

"Hey!" The hothead snapped," Brat."

Smirking after turning away from her brothers, Kimiko sprinted across the buildings that surrounded the office building that the Guardian retreated to. She couldn't see anything through the windows as they had some kind of privacy film on them, like the one way windows in crime movies. There also seemed to be one surveillance camera on the roof, which Kimiko dropped into the alley below to avoid detection. She crossed her arms and studied the building, "Now, it's like almost midnight, and no one's come out. Either it's a twenty-four hour company or something ain't right...not to mention that they give their employees lightsabers...so definitely not your typical, corporate building...still...I wonder if they're hiring, cuz I want a lightsaber..."

That was when her shell cell buzzed,

" _Let's get down to business,_

 _To defeat, the huns!_ "

Snickering to herself as she knew just who it was, Kimmy answered it, "Leo?"

"Start headin' back to our location, Don's sent in the turtle cam." Was all Leonardo said and hung up.

The younger turtle nodded and came back through the sewers as it was a faster way back. In the Battle Shell, Kimiko leaned against the door near Donatello's seat as the other three, plus April, were kind of crowding around the brainiac on the other side. The turtle cam was linked wirelessly to a small screen on the front of the truck and was controlled with a retro joystick controller _(the kind that would hook up to a TV or an older game system to play old arcade games)_. The tiny remote-controlled turtle had become stable after getting knocked back by a wild chair wheel. It was looking directly at the companies logo.

Donatello rose an eye ridge at the name of said company, "Hey guys...here's a new wrinkle.."

"I don't get it..." Raph said, just as confused as the others.

" _Techno-Cosmic Research Institute_..." Kimmy tilted her head in confusion, "So our Guardian friend works for a possible rival to NASA...meaning Shredder's so called enemies are part of a space institute...but what does that have to do with the fact that they have those swords of the fact that a bunch of them look like their apart of a really bad boy band?"

Don shook his head, "Say the first letter of each word out loud."

"T. C. R. I." Mikey said, looking up in the air, "T.C.R.I? That doesn't ring any..."Then realization slapped him upside the head as he then looked to his siblings, " _Bells_...that's the-"

"The what?" April asked with a risen brow, "What does that have to do with anything?"

" _T.C.R.I._ were the letters that were printed on the canister of ooze that mutated us into what we are." Leo explained with wide eyes.

"Meaning the secrets to our origins could very well lie within the walls of this building...why and how we became mutants in the first place..." Kim furrowed her brows, "So then...why was Shredder so bent on finding these people..why were they even enemies to _begin_ with..." She perked her head up as she drew a possible conclusion, "You don't think Shredder wanted a _mutant army_ do you!?"

Mikey quickly smacked her on the head to shut up, "You're over thinking it again!"

"Well I'm sorry, I can't help it! My stupid imagination is _endless_!"

Mikey's lips made a flat line, "Then don't think."

"Then I'd really be stupid..." Kim noted as she watched Don move the turtle cam around the halls of the building. Unfortunately, the tiny turtle bot got run over before they could really find anything out. She sighed as the screen became fuzzy, "Rest in peace turtle cam...though I never knew you."

"Now what?" April questioned, turning her focus to the five mutant turtles.

"Master Splinter could very well be in there, so we're going to have to get in there ourselves." Leonardo said, "Let's get back to the lair, for now, so we can figure a plan."

**\----**

At the lair, April and Donatello had pulled up pictures of T.C.R.I. from different angles onto the many television screens. April was working on the laptop, scouring for information on the company, while Leonardo and the rest studied the exterior of T.C.R.I..

"So what have we found out about T.C.R.I. so far?" The leader asked, slowly pacing in front of the group.

" T.C.R.I. is a highly successful new technologies company that's been around for the past twenty-five years. And their headed by a man named _Mr. Mortu_." April informed, reading articles about the company.

Kimiko studied articles on her own computer with a risen brow, "So if this T.C.R.I. is so _highly_ successful, then how come we have never heard of them until now? " She looked to Donnie, "Especially Techno Geek over there."

"I guess they just like being anonymous, but what really baffles me is the lack of outer security." Don noted, he pointed to one of the images that he got from turtle cam, there were only four screens. Two from the roof, one from ground level, and one that was focused on one side of the building, " You would think that since they're top of the line, that they'd have more. Especially here in a city like the Big Apple. Before the cam was gone, it came across a security room that wasn't very far from the front desk...and there weren't any surveillance cameras in the hall."

"So sneaking in shouldn't be a problem!" Mikey said as he zipped down from a cable, stopping in mid air as if he were a spider.

"That doesn't mean the building isn't rigged with alarms, Mikey." Kimmy noted as she pushed him from his shoulder, causing Mikey to swing back and forth.

"Then we'll need ta shut off the power from tha inside." Raph said, shoving the orange-banded turtle back in Kimmy's direction.

Soon, the two were playing tether ball with their brother, who was starting to get dizzy. Kimiko caught Mikey by the edge of his shell and pushed him back to Raph, "Yeah, but who's gonna do it? Again, I don't think a mutant turtle can just show up randomly like that..."

"April will do it." Leo started, "She'll get in and deactivate the security so that we can get in ourselves."

"Okay...sounds easy.."The redhead said, feeling a sudden pressure on her as Donatello gave her a small device with the schematics of T.C.R.I..

"After we're in, you'll reset the security and sneak out unnoticed."

"It all rests on your shoulders, gurl." Mikey half yelled as his siblings knocking him back and forth. "No Pressure!"

April played with the device in her hands, "Okay, but one small problem...there's a **guard sitting right there**!"

"Which is what a good ole' distraction is for." Kimmy said with a wink.

As if on cue, the elevator doors opened and Casey Jones walked in with a proud grin and a bat in hand, " **Someone call for a distraction?!"**


	23. 22

After prepping for the mission at hand, the next night, the turtles awaited from a rooftop nearest T.C.R.I. and were watching as April O'Neil slowly walked toward the entrance from the Battle Shell, which was parked in the same alley as before.

"Are we sure this idea is going to work?" Star asked via a shell cell headset as she kept watch from the truck, she had a laptop that displayed a larger version of the buildings blueprint schematics. "What happens if she runs into one of those Guardians?"

"That's one part that has me concerned as well...but it's a risk we'll have to take." Kimiko responded, somewhat skeptical of the plan, " There's also the fact that it's like, _midnight_ , not exactly the most professional approach...."

" _Real_ encouraging there, Kimmy..." April muttered as she neared the doors.

Leonardo sighed and shook his head at the younger turtle who was readying her grappling hook gun, "You know we can't exactly do this at any other time, Little Turtle. It's now or never."

"Don't listen to her, you can definitely do this April." Donatello said through their com.

In the building, April walked to the front desk and cleared her voice, "I am Dr. Vander Pepper of T.M.N.T. University. I am here to see Mr. Mortu."

"Mr. Mortu doesn't take appointments." Was all the guard said, cold and emotionlessly.

Over in the Battle Shell, Star rose a brow at the name her redheaded friend said, " _Dr. Pepper_...really?" She turned in her seat as Casey was writing something in crayon, "Wait...what's with the toaster?"

"They's the brains around technology right? So, give em' a broken product and n' angry customer n' boom, distraction!" Casey grinned before pulling over his duffel bag of sports equipment and storming into T.C.R.I., "Yo! I wanna speak to Boss Man right now!" The maniac ranted to distract the guard long anough for April to get passed them, "I got a problem with one of yer products!"

"Sir, T.C.R.I. does not manufacture _toasters_."

On the roof, the turtles listened in on the conversation, they facepalmed as the guard mentioned the letters R.I.T.C. were written on the bottom...with red crayon. Before they heard him bashing the toaster with a bat, " _ **Give me a toaster or give me death**_!"

_(This is the best Casey scene and you can't tell me otherwise)_

"Well that was...more effective than I thought..." Kimiko fired her grappling into the roof of T.C.R.I. and tied the other end to a pole until it was secure to cross from.

"Guys.." April said through the headset, " I don't recognize this technology..."

Kimiko crossed the cable behind the other four, "Well try to focus on turning off the alarms, one surveillance cam shouldn't be too much for us ninja to handle." At that exact moment, April had found out how to deactivate the room alarms, then proceeded to let them know. Donatello planned ahead and handed Leo a camera that printed out photos before taking out a pigeon puppet from his bag of tricks.

Leonardo took a picture of the view that the surveillance camera would have seen while Donnie laid under the camera, flapping the puppet in front of it as he waited for the photo to develop after it printed. ( _It's how old cameras worked_ )

Watching the two at work, placing the photo behind the puppet, Mikey looked to both Raph and Kimmy, " I don't know what bothers me more...the fact that this is working...or the fact that Don carries around a _pigeon puppet_...."

"Either way, we can get in now." Raph said as he kicked open an air vent but stood in confusion as their was no hole underneath, just the floor of the roof a few inches in, "Never mind, there's no way down..."

"What kind of office building doesn't have a ventilation system? I swear, humans get weirder by the minute..." The youngest turtle shuttered at the thought, "Imagine not having air conditioning...." Then Kimiko scratched her chin before speaking through her headset, "Still...they have to go to the bathroom at somepoint here...and keep hydrated...Don't suppose there's a sewer entrance anywhere, April?"

"It's a negative, Kim....I'm sure it's somewhere, but I don't see it on the grid...."

"Only one way to find out." Kimmy said as she searched for a manhole nearest the building.

"We'll check the windows while you do that Kim," Leo started as he pulled out a pair of suction cups, "Let us know if you find anything as soon as you can."

**-Kimiko's POV-**

I gave Fearless a thumbs up before finding a way into the sewers in the middle of the street....I was thankful that it wasn't busy at this time of night and quickly hopped in.

I followed pipes in the direction of T.C.R.I. until I came across what appeared to be a dead end....but the pipes still ran through the cinderblock, not to mention, I could feel a bit of a draft from behind it. I pressed my hand against said wall and it went through as if there was nothing there. Just what is up with this company? Don't get me wrong, Shredder had sentient statutes in his building, not to mention that there was also an entire civilization that lived deep underground with weird things that were powered up by crystals. The passage in the lair that led to the hideout too...so right now, I'm not really too phased by anything that would seem ' _out of the oridinary'_.

I braced myself before walking through the fake wall and discovered a large tube next to some pipes that was big enough for me to fit through. The tube was made with a reddish orange colored metal, and seemed to be used to keep the sewer pipes maintained. The pipes themselves led into a small drainage junction away from the main tunnels. The way up into T.C.R.I. is all I really need. "Found a way in boys." I stated through my headset.

"Nice work Kimmy, we've also secured a way in through one of the windows." Donnie said, "However, there seems to be a last minute defense that we can't get through.."

"No problem." April noted pridefully as she easily turned off the traps, "Both access points now free of danger."

Donnie cheered happily, "Great-" But then his communication become nothing but static.

"Donnie?" That could only mean that once I get into the building, I'll be on my own until I find the boys. But this is for Splinter, and one way or another, we're getting him back. I reached in one of my arm pouches and pulled out some tegaki to start climbing the tube.

**-Third Person-**

Star flinched in her seat as metal shutters dropped from all entrances of T.C.R.I., then put her shell cell on speaker, "April, Casey? What's going on?!"

"Uh...bit of an issue here!" Casey shouted as he and April were cornered by more security guards, and even Mr. Mortu himself. The creepy thing was, they weren't ordinary people as every moment or so, their eyes would light up with a jade green hue. "That don't mean we ain't goin' down fightin'!" Casey said as he pummeled two of the five guards to the ground. But their bodies felt almost cold to the touch and hard like metal.

"We're not going down to do anything-" April protested as she spotted a scooter that they both hopped on to escape with. The scooter hovered at a fast speed, easily busting through the doors back into the lobby and ramming right through the metal shutters.

Star watched as she ducked her head just under the dashboard of the truck. Both Casey and April had made it into the alley before Mortu could spot them. The silver haired man had an intimidating appearance as his eyes lit up again before he angerily walked away. "That's not human...." The blonde spoke in through the shell cell to try and communicate with the turtles, "You five had better be careful....this company really doesn't take kindly to others.."

"You're tellin' me....talk about rude customer service!" Casey boomed as he came into the truck.

April quickly shushed him, "We can't let them know we're here."

Star looked at the building's schematics and furrowed her brows, "Okay, this is really weird.."

**-Kimiko's POV-**

Right when Star was about to go into detail, she was cut off as I had gotten further into the building through the tube. It took me into a random hallway on one of the many floors, everything looked identical it was stupid and just bizarre. I dashed into one of the many rooms as a worker zoomed by on the coolest looking scooter I had ever seen.

"Yeah, some nut-job gave them a hard time over a toaster." He chuckled.

His partner was also laughing, I don't blame them, I'm mean have you seen Casey? "And now Mortu and the others are disgruntled because they now have to go into decontamination."

I poked my head back out as they were further down the hall, " _Decontamination_...? Doesn't that seem like a little overkill for a couple scrapes?" The room I was in was completely empty, I took the chance to look through other rooms, each and every stinkin' one were the exact same layout and just as empty, "Research institute my _shell_. There's nothing even here..."

I looked into the hall once again, this time going into the direction the workers moved down, only leading me to an elevator. Inside were about twenty-five buttons but indication of where I was. I started with the a button on what I assumed was the ground floor. The elevator started up before stopping a lot quicker than I imagined. The doors opened up but to my surprise, the supposed ground floor looked exactly like the one I was just on. "Okay....how about the top floor..." I pressed the button on the top corner of the panel and the elevator did the same thing, opening to a hallway identical to the last few. I tried again with a floor in the middle, but ended with the same result, "Is this thing even moving?!" I kept trying until I ultimately gave up from frustration and left to find another way. Before I could do that however, another worker on a scooter moved down a hall across from me. I took the opportunity to tail him and watched as he went through a fake wall. "Now we're getting somewhere..."

I waited a moment before quietly walking through the wall and to my surprise, I was led into a chamber of some kind. There were wires, some of them looking like organs which I felt a little squeamish about.Some were hooked up to bright orange pods that looked like... _jelly beans_? I watched as the worker walked to a platform connected to an organic looking tube which opened and he slid down. I crept over an edge that overlooked the chamber, to spot the worker get dropped off in front of a weird chandelier thing. However, I wasn't prepared for when he and a few others literally stripped off their skins, revealing robot exo-suits, much like the one the Foot fished up a while back. They were all gross and slimy....and had brain like creatures for stomachs?! "Okay....I've seen it all now..."

That moment, an intruder alert was issued through the building. But I had unknowingly stepped onto the platform from before, which opened up and I slid right through. "Oh no.." I was spit out flat on my shell when I felt eyes all on me. I sat up and the little pink blobs, who were now soaked with what I think is water, glaring at me. " _Whelp_...."

"After them!" One roared which I responded by throwing down a smoke pellet and sprinting the shell out of there.

"Stupid, stupid ninja turtle!!" I ducked my head as the little blobby things were flying around, shooting laser beams at me. I drew my swords and deflected a couple back at the brain blobs, "What the heck are you anyway?!"

I ran out from a hall and into a different chamber, I couldn't tell what was what with their strange technology. I turned a corner and slid passed a group of robots, slicing the legs off in the process before continuing down the path. Up ahead, were two corridors I could take, left or right...left or.."Kimmy!!" From the right were four familiar green bois, behind them were even more robots and blobs.

"Left it is," I said as we ran down the other hall, I pulled out a bomb shuriken and a smoke pellet and threw them to the ground to blind the enemies as we entered a different room. The five of us then pushed over a large machine to block off the things.

**-Third Person-**

The turtles appeared to have come into a lab of some kind, there were multiple pods hooked up to machines. Nearly each pod had a pink brain like blob inside, unmoving in a liquid of some kind.

"A..... morgue?" Raphael suggested.

"I certainly hope not..." Leonardo said in disbelief, then pointed straight ahead, "Because **look!** "

In one of the pods was the very mutant they were searching for, Master Splinter. He was still, unconsciously floating in the orange pod. "He's not....y-you know.." Mikey frowned at the sight as he felt his heart almost stop.

"No, it doesn't look like it." Donatello answered. He studied a panel that displayed different angles of Splinter , his heart rate, and overall being. "From what I can tell, this is some kind of bio suspension unit. They've got him in a stasis."

Raph growled and whipped out his sai, "Then let's bust im' out!"

"But what if that does more harm than good?" Kimiko said, stepping in front of her hotheaded brother, "This technology isn't something we understand, Raph."

"Then figure something out Don!!" Mikey freaked.

"Okay, okay!" Donnie spat back, but he was nervous about touching the panel, "M-maybe if I-" He was shortly interrupted by a loud boom as the small alien creatures broke through the makeshift barricade.

As they fought them off, Mikey kicked one hard enough to cause it to go flying. The small blob was out of control while firing the laser beam from the disk he was secured into. One shot was headed for the unconscious Splinter, but Don jumped in the way to attempt to prevent the impact. Jumping in front of him was Kimiko, who felt confident in deflecting the laser. But proved utterly useless as both turtles were hit and sent hurling into another room.

Kimiko rolled off of her brother and onto her feet as the other three turtles came to their aid. There was a giant machine with a large pad in the center, which they all stepped on to help Don from the blast earlier.

"Stop! You mustn't get on that!" A wild Mr. Mortu warned. The silver-haired man ran to what were the controls of said machine to try and stop it, but it was too late.

There was a white flash of light as the turtles felt anchored where they were, unable to move. Then, there bodies broke into particles as the light faded....then there were gone..

**-Star's POV-**

We were waiting for the turtles to hurry back with Splinter. I crossed my arms and stared at the Techno-Cosmic Research Institute. I was feeling a little impatient, "It's been four hours...and we have no way of communicating with any of them..."

"I know, I'm worried too.." April said, she had her head resting in her hand, also staring at the building in front of us, "Wonder if they've found him yet.."

"You twos need to relax." Casey said, putting arms around us reassuringly, "They're ninjas, they'll be just fi-" Before he could finish, a light blasted from the top of T.C.R.I. and into the sky, "Oh..."

"You were saying, Mr. Jones?"


	24. 23

**-Kimiko's POV-**

It all happened so fast...I didn't know what was happening...the moment my brothers and I stepped on that platform, we just...we froze, unable to move as everything went white...I felt nothing but a pins and needles sensation on my body.

The next thing we know, we've wound up in some alley that didn't look familiar at all. I fell to my knees as my head felt very light, "Oh no....I think I'm gonna hurl...."

"Ughh.... I felt like my shell was taken off an put on backwards..." Raph groaned as I heard him crack his neck.

"What happened?" Mikey asked, stretching his arms, "That light...those alien things...where'd they go?"

"You mean...where'd _we_ go? This doesn't look like New York.." Leo noted.

I wobbled to my feet after regaining focus as Don spoke, "Somewhere I don't think we should...be..."

We turned around as we were at gun point from a group of men, " Um...We come in peace?" I said nervously as they locked and loaded the guns. "Okay, now that's just **_rude._** "

Mikey leaned into my ear and whispered a comment, "Natives don't look friendly..."

"You're tellin' me...sheesh.." I responded, just as quietly as I slowly reached for a one of my katana.

"I think our best defense might be.." Leo began.

Raph then drew his twin sai, "Some serious butt kickin' action!!" He shouted as the rest of us drew our weapons and went in to fight.

I zigzaged from the ground as the men were distracted by the boys who leaped in the air. I took the chance to slice apart the guns, then ducked to swing my foot around to trip the couple in my way. Then I joined Raphie in jump kicking two more. For what I'm going to assume are the army, they're pretty easy to dispatch....now that I think about it, are actually fighting the military? Cuz that's kind of really bad...then again they attacked first.

"Team to base...." I looked to the ground as one man was talking through a headset, "We need back up!" I half-paniked and pressed a pressure point on the back of his neck, causing the man to go nighty night for a bit. As I knelt down, another one of our new enemies whizzed past and slammed into the wall.

When we thought it was over, we spotted search lights up ahead, "Not good..." We prepared for more fighting when something called to us.

"Um, excuse me, terrapin beings?" from behind an entrance came a robot who was waving to us, "Yes, this way, quickly!" It said as it ran off further into a building .

Coming our way was a wave of troops, too many for us to take on right now, "Let's go!" I shouted and followed the robot inside.

It ran up a few stairs and gestured for us to follow, "Hurry, hurry! Those Federation troops don't let up easily!"

The robot led us to the roof, unfortunately, it was a dead end that overlooked a high way that looked pretty far down. "What now!?" Raph asked.

As Leonardo searched for and answer, loud footsteps could be heard making their way up, "Um...here comes the welcome wagon..." Mikey said, spinning his nunchucks.

Leo pointed to a garbage truck that was coming through, "Quick, jump!"

"I-I don't like heights!" The robot cowered and shook.

"Well how do you feel about _laser guns_!?" Leo backfired as he and the other three jumped to the truck.

I pushed our new robot ally toward the edge as the truck was almost out of reach, "What are you waiting for?! Jump!!" The so called Federation man started to fire, I used my swords to once again deflect the lasers coming our way.

It shook its shiny head and we ran to the edge, "I don't like this!!!" It wailed as it took a leap of faith. The robot was then cought by my brothers.

I ended up getting busy with incoming blasts from the guns, "No where to run, freak." The head of the squad of troops said as he commanded the rest to halt their fire, "Now, come along with us."

I sighed and sheathed my swords, "Alright....I surrender.." I said in a depressing tone.

"Kimiko, hurry up!" Don shouted as the truck was getting further away.

The Federation cornered me as I stood along the very edge of the roof. "Hold your hands up where I can see them."

That moment, I smirked as I pulled out my trusty grappling hook gun from its holster on the back of my belt. "I'm afraid I don't know the _gravity_ of my situation, boys." I laughed backflipped from the edge, firing my gun into the side of the highway and swung myself onto to truck , "Better luck next time!" I teased while sticking my tongue out, then she kissed her gun happily, "Never leave home without this."

**-Third Person-**

As the turtles took a moment to rest on the truck, they got a view of the place they had been transported to, " So, any guesses as to where we are?" Kimmy asked, her mouth opened slightly in both awe and shock as this strange world.

"Not on Earth, I reckon.." Donatello said as the truck came to a stop in a marketplace where they got off.

They helped the robot who accompanied them out as well, "Ah, Earth is home planet yes? I don't believe it's in this galaxy, at least, I've never heard of it."

"Where are we?!" Raphael yelled, his temper boiling.

The robot held a hand up, "Calm down son. This is D'Hoonib, in the Sidayom System, Federation Territory."

"A different galaxy?" Don said, his voice fading as he couldn't believe it. He'd be an excited geek if weren't for the fact he didn't know how he ended up here.

Leonardo's mind flashed to the image of their father in the stasis pod back at T.C.R.I. "Meaning Master Splinter is still on Earth....so far away...so helpless..." He clenched his fist and held it up, "We have to help Master Splinter!"

Raph placed his hand on top his brother's shoulder, "And we will, Leo."

"But how the heck did we get all the way to a different galaxy?" Mikey questioned.

As Donnie and the Robot were about to discuss the possibilities of what happened, Kimiko's face widened, her eyes twitched as her lips pressed into a thin line, "Hey guys.....there's a **tank** headed our way...." She pointed to a vehicle that was hovering toward them. Behind it were more Federation troops.

"How come the bad guys get all the cool toys..." Mikey whined as they slowly backed away from it.

To their dismay, more troops surrounded them from the four streets around them. "We need to get out of here..."The robot stuttered.

Kimiko spotted the small shop near them, then looked to the tank. She nudged Leonardo and nodded her head toward it before reaching for the hilt of one of her katana.

Leo looked to the pink-masked turtle, disapproving of what she was about to do, "You're not serious...." He mouthed silently.

Kimmy responded by drawing the sword and smiling sweetly, "I'll catch up." Then she ran forth and slid on her shell under the tank, then barreled into one group of Feds.

"Wait, how come she gets ta fight!?" Raph huffed in envy.

"Come on, while we have the chance." Leo ordered and led the way, causing Raph to whine in frustration.

"Show off!" Mikey yelled as they slipped through the shop and into a nearby sewer entrance.

Kim twirled the sword in her hand with rapid motion as she moved swiftly while attacking Federation men. Her main focus was on the tank next to her, by moving back and forth and all around it, the Feds would end up shooting at it. Which would hopefully cause the tank to blow up from the damage. "Who trained you all? Stormtroopers?" Kimmy teased on the top of the tank before jumping down from it and split kicking two men on the way down, "Cuz y'all keep missin' your target that literally right in front of you. Surely I ain't that short."

The little turtle snickered as she danced passed laser beam after laser beam before swinging the katana forward, cutting up the guns and finishing with a spin kick. Kimiko then vaulted herself over the tank once again as the vehicle's barrel was getting close to targeting her. "You're too slow~!" She shouted, elbowing then hitting a soldier with the back of her fist, taking his gun in the process. "But this distraction is dragging on longer than intended." Kim jumped back and threw a couple red shuriken at the tank, then shot at them as they hit it. She sheathed her sword and turned around to smile at her work. Kim fist-bumped the air with the gun her other hand and shouted proudly, "Shell Yeah!!"

However the celebration was short when she ducked instinctively as a large laser blast nearly hit her. Behind her was a second tank, "Shell no!!"Kimiko pouted and jumped out of the way as the tank fired another round. Then she ran under the hovering tank and into an narrow alley. She threw down a smoke pellet to help her disappear into the shadows faster, then wall kicked her way up onto a roof to lie low for a moment. Just as she did, holographic wanted posters with her, the boys, and the robot's appearances spread quickly through the marketplace. Kim sighed, "Great, we just got here and now we're on D'Hoonib's Most Wanted...." She carefully peered down to the large tank that was searching the area, "With my face plastered all over, it's only going to make things harder.....what I wouldn't give for some Foot Tech armor right now...or a way to blend in better..." Conveniently on the roof, hanging over a clothesline was a chocolate brown hooded robe, a darker brown sash, and a mouth cover made of the same material as the sash, which gave Kim an idea that made her grin, "Being short certainly has it's advantages...."

Kim took off her mask and used it to tie her hair into a small, bun . Then pulled the robe over her, it had no front opening and was a good two sizes bigger than she was, "Correction, being short has _some_ advantages...." The hood easily covered the entirety of her face, but she still covered her mouth with the mask before tying the sash over her chest and around her waist to keep herself from tripping over the robe. From one of her weapon pouches, she took out a red shuriken, "Tch....only two left after this one....better make this distraction count.." She pressed the center of the shuriken and threw it swiftly. The throwing star zoomed over to the other side of the marketplace, and the moment it went off, Kimiko ran back down into the market to blend in with the crowd. She watched the Federation run to investigate the explosion with a smirk,  ' _Now...to find the others..._ '


End file.
